IDUKKI: The state’s sericulture farmers have twinkle in their eyes, thanks to the silkworm cocoons’ price, which has touched an all-time high of Rs 620 per kilogram, almost double of last year. Yet, amid the euphoria, they fear the downturn in the overseas market for silk goods could lead to a fall in price.
Kerala’s share of the country’s total production is meagre compared to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which contribute more than 90 per cent. Idukki is one of the three leading districts in cocoon cultivation, with the others being Palakkad and Wayanad.
Cocoons are cultivated largely in the Marayur, Kanthalloor, Pallanadu and Vattavada areas of Idukki district. They are in high demand due to the richer silk content compared to those produced elsewhere in the country.The increase in price has come at a time when farmers seriously started thinking of abandoning sericulture due to rising input costs and price stagnation.
Manikandan, a farmer at Chinnarvara, said one reason for the increase in cocoons’ price was the hike in anti-dumping levy on raw silk from China. “With the price of silk imported from China becoming expensive due to the levy, the rate of indigenously produced silk also increased,” he said.
District sericulture officer Jaison Joseph believes the increase in price will attract more farmers, whose number in Idukki alone has come down from 1,000 to 70. “Earlier, the district sericulture cooperative federation and central silk board unit were functioning at Marayur, procuring raw silk as well as cocoon from farmers and marketing them to its members like weavers’ co-operative societies and major consumers. However, these federations have stopped functioning recently and the entire process is now under the control of the Department of Rural Development,” said Joseph.
“The department presently provides 50 per cent subsidy to those farmers belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories for cultivating mulberry leaves, installing drip irrigation systems, constructing rearing sheds, etc. Many farmers in the general category withdraw from cultivation as they aren’t eligible for subsidy,” he said.“The decline in output may have also led to the demand and consequent increase in prices. Export may be hit, but there’s a huge domestic market to cater to,” said the officer.
Dharmaraj, a sericulture farmer in Marayur said, “The farmers usually buy silkworms from the district’s border villages. For 100 eggs, Rs 1,900 is paid, with each egg consisting of 600 silkworms of seven days’ growth, which are stored in the sheds inside the farm. Construction of a shed costs Rs 1 lakh. The farmers feed the worms with mulberry leaves for 15 days, after which they are rested for three days. After 18 days, the worms weave cocoons around them which are then supplied to reelers. They eliminate the worms through a heat process, preserve the silk threads and supply the same to weavers for making saris.”
“On an acre of land, 4,500 to 5,000 plants can be raised, from which 1 lakh cocoons weighing 100 kilograms could be harvested. Farmers can make a profit in the Rs 10,000- Rs 45,000 range every 65 days. In course of time, as the mulberries crop, the main feed for the silk worms develops, the profit is likely to rise as high as Rs 75,000. The price of cocoon is determined based on the amount of silk content in cocoons,” he said.Dharmaraj, who has been rearing silkworms for a decade, considers it an economically viable enterprise as the perennial crop can be grown four to five times a year. “However, the withdrawal of subsidy and other incentives provided by the government have put us in trouble amid fluctuation in price and rising input costs,” said Dharmaraj.