Sericulture dept to promote scientific silkworm rearing

July 19, 2021 56 Views No Comment

Correspondent KOHIMA, JUL 19 (NPN) : With increase in eri-culture, especially in rural areas where it has become an importance source of income, sericulture department has decided to promote scientific method of rearing eri and set up pupa processing unit as value addition to ensure that pupas are not wasted.

Speaking to Nagaland Post, director of sericulture T. Sanny Pongener said farmers benefitted more from pupa than cocoon. But cocoon also fetched good return if its quality was maintained and hence scientific method of rearing would be imparted to them, he added.

Pongener said the State produced over 400 metric tonne of cocoons as on 2020, but the department envisaged to improve the quality of cocoon and thereby help the farmers and boost the State’s economy.

Since eri is also an important delicacy of Nagaland and its market demand was high, Pongener stressed improvement in its rearing.

And towards this end, he said under Silk Samagra, selection of beneficiaries will be made, to impart scientific method of training so that improvised rearing can be taken up in massive scale.

He said cocoons produced by farmers were purchased by the sericulture department and sold to States like Assam and West Bengal.

He assured that the department would go all out to assist the farmers in rearing eri – from selection of farmers to impart training and providing saplings like castor seeds, kesseru, payum and disease free laying (DFL) eggs – besides providing incentives under Central schemes to improve farmers’ income in the State.

Meanwhile, during a visit to sericulture farm at Tsiesema, about 14 km from the State Capital, Kohima district sericulture officer Vilhousienuo Khro stressed that eri-culture should start from grassroots where both young and old could rear.

She mentioned that the department intended to increase the number of silkworm rearing farmers to help the farmers and also to increase cocoon production.

She said the farm was a facilitating centre for Kohima district with space for training, plantation, weaving unit, staff quarters, etc.

Khro informed this correspondent that over 500 farmers in five blocks of Kohima district were into silkworm rearing, adding that farmers could rear in three cycles a year. He pointed out that nothing got wasted in eri-culture as even the litters were excellent manure and farmers fetched handsome returns by selling pupa and cocoon.

Mentioning that Tseninyu sub-division and Chiephobozou had the highest cocoon producing blocks in Kohima district, which alone produced 4.3 metric tonne of cocoon in 2020, assistant sericulture officer Keneizetuo Khro, who too was present, said 11 staffs from the department were manning the sericulture farm.

Mentioning that farmers would be assisted for two years under new scheme, he said silkworm and post-cocoon activities like spinning, yarning and weaving training were imparted to the farmers so that they could get maximum benefits out of the cocoon.

With department SHG weaving unit in place, the cocoons are utilised to make fibres for making different kinds of clothes. The department also runs an emporium at the sericulture directorate where varieties of products are put on display for sale.

During Hornbill festival, the products attract lot of visitors who want to buy original silk products.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/sericulture-dept-to-promote-scientific-silkworm-rearing/236604.html