Creating a silk farmer in each village of the State is the latest attempt by the State government to promote sericulture.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Wednesday informed the Assembly that her government would launch a scheme ‘Sericulture Farmer in each Panchayat’. It would be launched in 300 villages, where sericulture was not in practice. Each identified farmer would be a model, who is expected to inspire other farmers in the village to take up sericulture, she said.
A senior official from the Sericulture Department said that identifying farmers in the 300 villages has already begun. A ‘lead farmer’ would be identified and his field would be a demonstration plot, where other farmers could visit. They would be encouraged to replicate it on their land. The scheme would increase silk production in the State and reduce dependency on imported silk. The State was expected to achieve self-sufficiency through the scheme. Except Chennai district, all the other districts in the State have been included for identifying a lead farmer, the officer said.
Percolation ponds
Apart from launching the scheme, the Chief Minister also announced the creation of 50 percolation ponds in the government silk farms across the State. The ponds would be created with technical assistance from the State Agricultural Engineering department and it would be implemented under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
New silk reeling units
In an attempt to improve the quality of silk yarn produced, the Chief Minister announced allocation of Rs 80 lakh for buying new state-of-the-art machinery.
The new silk multi-end reeling machines would be procured for the eight silk weaving units functioning in the State. With the new machinery, the department aims at producing international quality silk yarn, said the officials.
The Chief Minister also announced the allocation of Rs. 2 crore for additional classrooms and hostels in the Tamil Nadu Silk Development Training Institute functioning in Hosur.
With the launching of ‘Sericulture Farmer in each Panchayat’, a need will arise to increase the classroom and hostel facilities in the Training Centre.
