A hi-tech cocoon market with modern facilities will be constructed in Ramanagaram district at a cost of ₹75 crore.
Making the announcement during the State Budget 2021-22 on Monday, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said the market will be constructed with the assistance of NABARD for the benefit of stakeholders in the silk industry.
It is expected to come up on a 10-acre plot of land on the Mysuru-Bengaluru highway in Channapatna at a distance of about 5-6 km from the existing cocoon market at Ramanagaram, said an official of the Sericulture Department. NABARD has already released ₹35 crore for the project, the official added.
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According to senior officials of the department, there was little scope for expansion of the existing cocoon market in Ramanagaram, which had witnessed a sharp rise in the volume of transactions over the last couple of years. Despite making serious efforts for the last three to four years for land measuring 10 acres in the vicinity, the authorities were unable to identify suitable land for the purpose.
The location identified for the hi-tech cocoon market in Channapatna is around 35 acres out of which the main building will come up on 10 acres. The remaining land will be used for construction of dormitory and exhibition hall, among other things.
Apart from having modern facilities for weighing of the cocoons and checking their quality, the proposed hi-tech cocoon market is also expected to gradually come up with facilities for overnight stay of sericulture farmers, who come from far off places to sell their cocoons.
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Meanwhile, the output of cocoons has increased both in quality and in volumes over the last few years. Deputy Director of Sericulture Department Munishi Basaiah said the transaction crossed 41,000 tonnes on Monday with the superior quality bivoltine cocoons accounting for more than 28,000 tonnes while the crossbreed variety accounted for 13,000 tonnes.
The output of cocoons is set to increase in the coming months and reach 60,000 tonnes by the end of March. With a lot of farmers taking to sericulture in recent years, the quantity of cocoons coming to the market had also increased, he said and expected the volumes to remain in the vicinity of 55,000 to 60,000 metric tonnes even during April. Many sericulture farmers had adopted the superior bivoltine cocoon farming, which enjoys a high demand as a lot of reelers have automatic reeling machines, he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Yediyurappa has also announced the construction of a Reshme Bhavan at a cost of ₹150 crore at Okalipuram in Bengaluru with private investment in the land belonging to the department.
The construction of Reshme Bhavan will bring all offices of the Sericulture Department under one roof in Bengaluru, he said.