23 new more sericulture villages being set up

Bangladesh Sericulture Development Board (BSDB) has been implementing a project for promoting sericulture and its industry through entrepreneurship development at different levels of production. According to the officials concerned, the five-year project titled ‘Extension and Development of Sericulture in Public and Private sector in Bangladesh’ is being implemented throughout the country by spending Tk 300 million. Side by side with the BSB, two more institutions like Bangladesh Sericulture Research and Training Institute (BSRTI) and Bangladesh Silk Foundation (BSF) are also working as implementing agencies. The sources said the project has provision of establishing 23 sericulture villages at the potential areas as a model to improve capacity of small and marginal farmers to establish high yielding mulberry garden and produce superior quality of silk cocoon. The villages will function as a good center for economic activity and people of the adjacent areas will gradually be inspired and involved in income generation process. Swapan Kumar Paul, Director General of BSDB, said that the sericulture and silk industry, by its nature, is a family based labor-intensive economic activity that provides employment for the rural people. More than 0.6 million people are involved in this industry of which one lakh are cocoon growers and the rest are engaged in silk reeling, spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing, finishing and trading activities. The multidisciplinary activities provide unique job opportunities to the marginal farmers, landless poor, rural artisans and also the urban silk fabric manufacturing industries and contribute a lot to poverty reduction, he added. He said, there are around 80 small and medium silk factories in private sector with a capacity of manufacturing 25.50 million meters fabrics annually, according to BSS.