Sericulture prospect bright if revived

ZM Aminul Islam | Published: June 22, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

JHENIDAH, Jun 21: Sericulture sector can open up a new horizon of economic progress in the country if Bangladesh Sericulture Development Board (BSDB) can revitalise it by removing the existing setbacks.
In Bangladesh, 400-450 metric tonnes (MT) of silk yarn is used on an average every year. However, only 20-25 MT of the item is produced in the country and the rest is imported from China, Vietnam, India, etc. countries, according to sources.
Duty on import of yarn has to be increased so that the domestic yarn gets fair prices, concerned people said.
If local varieties of silkworm races could be improved more to suit the weather in the country through researches and provided them to the farmers for rearing, better results would come out, sources said.
The high-yielding varieties (HYV) of silkworm which are sustainable in the weather of Bangladesh and prove more productive need to be selected through trials and given to the farmers. The researchers of Bangladesh Sericulture Research and Training Institute (BSRTI,) have to play a vital role in this regard, according to people inside the sector.
4-5 silkworm races of Indian HYV which might be weather-tolerant in our country can be brought here said Abdul Mannan, General Manager, BRAC Silk Enterprise.
According to every crop schedule, silkworm races have to be combined. And in line with a season (out of a total of 4 seasons), the farmers have to be provided with eggs.
HYV mulberry, including Thai variety has widely to be planted in the fields.
The BSDB has to install high-quality reeling units with new technology so that the standard of yarn produced here may be like that of the yarn imported from India, China and other countries. In order to improve the quality of the domestic yarn, the people involved in this sector have to be trained well. Â
Extensively trained silk designers need to be engaged for making finished products so that the demand for this cloth goes up at home and abroad.
Md Nashir Uddin, General Manager (in-charge), Bangladesh Silk Foundation opined, "Lands in hill tracts are still cheaper and weather is favourable for silkworm rearing; mulberry cultivation can widely be done there in the form of plots on government, NGO and individual levels,"
Md Bozlur Rahman of Bholahat in Chapainawabganj, recently brought over 50 bighas of land in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and brought it under mulberry cultivation.
Joint Secretary Swapon Chandra Paul, Director General, BSDB, while contacted, told the FE that necessary steps would be taken to revitalise the sericulture sector in Bangladesh.