Cocoon production in the State, which had been hit by a mulberry disease, appears poised to pick up just in time to meet the growing demand for indigenous silk.
The leaf roller insect, which eats the shoots of mulberry plants, had affected cocoon production in the State. With the climate change in the last few days and the use of pesticides bringing the disease under control, most cocoon markets across the State have reported an increase in arrivals. The prices of cocoon, which had remained high for the last three months, had begun to ease in the last one week, said Deputy Director of Sericulture in Ramanagaram district Munishi Basaiah.
The cocoon market in Ramanagaram, one of the largest in the State, was trading 25 to 30 tonnes of cocoons daily during the last three to four months when the production was low. But, in the last one week, the arrivals had crossed 50 tonnes a day, consequently bringing down the price, the officials said.
The average price of cocoons, which used to between ₹480 and ₹495 for the crossbreed and between ₹630 and ₹670 for the superior quality bivoltine during this January and February, has eased to an average of ₹400 for the former and ₹492 for the latter in the last one week. “Several reeling units in the region were functioning to almost half the capacity because of the cocoon prices,” said Mr. Basaiah. With the price of cocoons easing and the demand for raw silk expected to increase owing to COVID-19 disrupting the import of silk from China, the production of indigenous raw silk is likely to increase. Meanwhile, the available stocks of Chinese silk are fast exhausting. With no consignment of silk from China for almost two months now, the indigenous silk is expected to bridge the gap.
Ashok Karbawala, a silk trader from Bengaluru, said they had to cancel many orders for imported Chinese silk. “One consignment of 10,000 of fabric is unable to leave the port in China owing to COVID-19,” he said.
But according to a Central Silk Board (CSB) source: “Indian silk weaving industry caters primarily to the domestic market. Exports play a limited role”. Meanwhile, the silk goods manufacturers catering to the local market are unperturbed. “We use only home-grown silk to weave our Mysore Silk saris,” said Krishnappa, General Manager of Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC) in Mysuru. President of the Karnataka Weavers’ Federation T.V. Maruthi said that most sari manufacturers do not depend on Chinese silk like earlier. “It is business as usual for us. We can get superior quality indigenous silk,” he said. Over the last couple of years, silk production in India rose in quality, with an increase in the output of bivoltine cocoons, and in quantity, bringing down the dependence on imported Chinese silk.
Silk production in India, which was 15,742 tonnes in 2003-04, rose to 20,410 tonnes in 2010-11 and was 35,468 tonnes during 2018-19, according to statistics from CSB.
