Central Silk Board, the apex body of the Indian sericulture industry, is likely to encourage quality silkworm seed production by adopting various measures during the Eleventh Plan following rising demand for quality cocoons, official sources said.
“The CSB plans to achieve quality silk seed production by encouraging the private sector, individually or in partnership with public sector agencies, and through adopted seed rearers, by providing required technical and financial support,” a top official in the CSB said.
This plan is like hitting ?two mangoes with a stone?, the official said. If CSB?s approach proves to be a success, the existing seed producers would be encouraged to upgrade their infrastructure to meet the quality norms while the new entrants would establish large-scale production units.
According to estimates, the annual requirement of seed for cross breed in mulberry sector hovers around 25 crore dfls (disease free layings) for three traditional cocoon producing states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Currently, most of the silk producing states are largely dependent on Karnataka for male component for their seed programmes.
More than 70% of this supply should come from the licensed seed producers in Karnataka.