BERHAMPUR: Even as Odisha has emerged as a fertile ground for the promotion of entrepreneurship, its potential to develop sericulture has not yet been realised, feels Usharani Brahma, HoD of Zoology department, RN College, Dura. Usharani said Berhampur is known as the Silk City of Odisha as silk sarees are produced here for local, national and international markets. But the raw material required for weaving the sarees is procured from Bengaluru and Kolkata.
Usharani, who has been engaged in Mariculture research for the last three years, said Handloom and Handicraft department must promote sericulture in Ganjam and Gajapati districts as it can not only generate jobs but also promote entrepreneurship. She said the State Government and NGOs should sensitise farmers on the immense potential of sericulture.
Sericulture is the art of silk farming in which cultivation and harvesting of silkworm are done for beneficial activities. Moriculture is one of the important activities of sericulture and involves the cultivation of mulberry crops. As silkworms are monophagous, they feed on mulberry leaves. This makes it necessary to plant mulberry for nourishment and rearing of silkworms, Usharani said.
She said farmers can grow vegetables as intercrop along with mulberry cultivation. Silkworms are reared by ensuring optimum temperature humidity and up to the fifth instar of silkworm larvae from 24 degree Celsius to 28 degree Celsius is recommended for its rearing.
Usharani, who has been nourishing silkworms in a portion of her house, said a large number of people from Ganjam and Gajapati districts migrate to other States for employment and most of them are engaged in textile mills. She said the phenomenon can be reversed if sericulture is promoted in the districts.