The State Agriculture Minister Subodh Uniyal unveiled the foundation stone for construction of the silk seed storage building to be constructed with the assistance of Central Silk Board in the Premanagar compound of the Uttarakhand silk directorate.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that construction of this building will enable local level production of the eggs of the silk worm which in turn will also boost silk production. He said that till now the eggs of the silk worm are being purchased from Bengaluru which are not able to adapt well according to the local conditions here.
He said that the state government has decided to bring about 37 per cent increase in the minimum support price on the sale of silk raw material with directions also being issued to the department to facilitate insurance of each farmer.
Stating that the state had set a silk target of 10,000 metric tonnes this year, the minister said that departmental officials should set an annual target and achieve it without fail. Speaking on the occasion, the Horticulture Secretary D Senthil Pandiyan said that the construction of the silk seed facility here will boost silk production which in turn will also help in tackling migration and in achieving the target set by the prime minister of doubling the income of farmers by 2022.
MlA Harbans Kapoor and departmental officials were also among those present on the occasion.