Chinese silk yarn, which has flooded the Indian market in the recent past, has taken its toll on domestic silk cocoon growers who struggle to eke out their living since it is difficult for them to find buyers for their produce. The situation resulting from availability of Chinese silk yarn in abundance in the domestic market has made it difficult for the growers to cover up the production cost, let alone make a profit.
Sericulture department officials, shouldered with the responsibility of enhancing production of cocoons and consequently silk yarn in the State, are also aware of the bitter reality that domestic buyers prefer Chinese silk yarn to the Indian variety due to its lower rates. Change in buying trends has taken place gradually.
Chinese silk yarn is gradually capturing domestic market where buyers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and some cities of Uttar Pradesh have shown interest in purchasing Chinese silk yarn since its rates are lower than the domestic silk rate. Rising demand of the Chinese silk yarn, which looks similar to the domestic one, is the major cause of concern for 45 lakh domestic silk growers of the nation, including 6,000 from Uttarakhand.
Sericulture department director Sudhir Mohan Sharma accepts that Chinese silk yarn is capturing Indian market. "See,
production cost of Chinese silk yarn is very low in comparison with that of domestic silk yarn. Production cost per kg of domestic silk yarn is around Rs2,000, while it costs around Rs1,200 for the same quantity in China. This is the reason that China sells its silk yarn at the rate of
Rs1,500 per kg."
"Indian growers can not afford selling their produce at such low rates which is the main cause of their concern," Sharma said, adding that in several areas it was difficult for the farmers to cover up their production cost. He, however, claims that several steps were being taken to enhance cocoon production so that the domestic buyers could compete with Chinese silk yarns available in the market.
Sharma also holds low production responsible for the higher rates of Indian silk yarn. "Annual production of silk yarn in India is very low compared to China. India produces 18,000 metric tonnes of silk yarn annually, while the annual silk yarn yield in China is more than 70,000 metric tonnes," Sharma said.
He claims Indian silk yarn is far better in quality than the Chinese one and several of traditional sari weavers prefer the Indian silk only. "The scenario will change in the near future since we are constantly working on enhancing production of the cocoons and consequently silk yarns to deflate competition being given by Chinese yarn to the domestic silk growers," Sharma added.