This state will launch silk product with its own brand, farmers’ income will increase by 2 times
The Punjab government has said that it will launch silk products manufactured in the state under its own ‘label’. During the state level Silk Day celebrations, Horticulture Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra introduced the ‘logo’ of the department for silk products. He announced that every possible effort will be made to double the silk production in the state by the end of the year 2025. Jauramajra said that at present sericulture is produced in about 230 villages in the sub-hill districts of Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot and Rupnagar.
There are two types of silk in the state
He said the state mainly produces two types of silk – bivoltine mulberry and Eri silk. “This business is mainly done by people living below the poverty line, landless persons or those with small land holdings,” the minister said. He said that at present, the annual income of a silk farmer is Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000, which is considered inadequate. Raising the issue of fair price of silk products to increase farmers’ income, Jauramjra said the government would set up its own reeling units to process the cocoons, thereby ensuring that silk farmers get higher prices for their product. A reeling unit is being set up in Pathankot to convert cocoons into silk thread
Farmers’ income will increase up to 2 times
He said that with the commissioning of this unit the income can increase by 1.5 to 2 times. He also mentioned the important step of reactivating the only silk seed production center of the state at Dalhousie (Himachal Pradesh) to reduce the production cost and provide seeds to the farmers at affordable rates. Special Chief Secretary (Horticulture) K A P Sinha said there are 13 government sericulture farms in the state and with the infrastructure installed in these farms, the technical staff of the department is providing necessary facilities to the sericulture farmers. These facilities include plantation assistance, distribution of silkworm eggs, rearing of young silkworms and assistance for cocoon marketing etc.
