BENGALURU: The state government is helping farmers take up sericulture as a source of additional income with the demand for silk from the state going up over the last few months. With the increased demand, the prices, which had hit rock bottom during Covid, have been going up.
Karnataka has over 1.38 lakh sericulture farmers, who grow cocoons, over 7,000 silk reelers, who make silk yarn from these cocoons and meets nearly 50 per cent of the country’s demand. The annual production of cocoons is 80,396 tonnes, while that of raw silk is around 12,000 tonnes, which is 48 per cent of the total raw silk produced in the country, officials said.
Sources in the State Sericulture Department said the demand for Karnataka silk is going up with the central government banning China silk, and the demand for French silk going down. “Now, the price of silk is Rs 4,500-6,500 per kg and it is expected to touch Rs 8,000 in the next few months,” they said. During Covid, it had gone down below Rs 2,000.
In Karnataka, cocoons grown in Ramanagara and Sidlaghatta in Tumakuru are considered the best quality. Though these were silk belts for centuries, farmers were moving away from sericulture as China silk, which was preferred for its low cost, was dominating the market. The ban has brought back the demand for local silk, sending its prices up.
The initial push came when the state resumed supply of silk to weavers of Varanasi after a gap of 20 years. “Our silk is the best in the country. There is a demand for 3,000 metric tonnes from Varanasi. In the very first few days, we got a request for 300 MT. We are signing a memorandum of understanding with the National Handloom Development Corporation which gives subsidies to weavers there so that they can buy silk from us,” Sericulture Minister Narayana Gowda told The New Indian Express. He, too, said silk prices would go up in the near future.
The government is also developing and upgrading infrastructure to meet the increased demand. “We are conducting programmes to motivate farmers to take sericulture as an additional occupation. We are also providing subsidies to set up reelers at home. Earlier, the price of cocoons was low and kept fluctuating.
But now, it has stabilised to around Rs 750 per kg for the last one-and-a-half years, giving confidence to farmers to take it up. We are constructing hi-tech silk markets in Haveri, Hubballi, Tumakuru and Kalaburagi spending Rs 15 crore on each, while the biggest one at a cost of Rs 75 crore will come up in Ramanagara,” an official said.