Home ›› 17 Sep 2022 ›› Nation
Bangladesh Silk Development Board (BSDB) has been implementing three projects involving around Tk 96.83 crore aimed at improving the living and livelihood conditions of the targeted grassroots people, particularly the poor and distressed women through substantial and sustainable development of the traditional silk sector.
Headquartered in Rajshahi, the BSDB is implementing projects almost throughout the country, particularly the potential ones for silk farming and rearing with the main thrust of achieving the sustainable development goals in light of the Government's Seventh Five Year Plan.
BSDB Director General Shyam Kishore Roy said the projects will supplement the government efforts of building social safety net side by side with transforming the villages into towns in phases upon successful implementation of those by 2023.
The main objective of the five-year project titled "Sericulture Extension and Development" is to generate employment for around 50,000 hardcore poor and landless women for elevating their socioeconomic condition by involving them in sericulture.
Another five-year project styled "Poverty Reduction in Hilly Chattogram Districts through Extension and Development of Sericulture" is being implemented in the hilly districts with the main thrust of freeing around 15,000 extremely poor and landless women from poverty through their engagement in silk-related income generation activities.
Another 15,000 poor and distressed women will get a scope of improving their living and livelihood conditions through the intervention of another five-year project titled "Poverty Reduction in Greater Rangpur districts through Extension of Sericulture."
Shyam Kishore said 620-bigha mulberry grounds will be developed and maintained side by side with the production and distribution of 23.5 lakh silk eggs and 23 lakh mulberry saplings among the farmers through the implementation of the projects.
"We are establishing 37 ideal silk villages and 500 mulberry blocks," he said, adding that 43,000-kilogram silk cocoons will be purchased from the growers.
More than 4,800 farmers are being given input support for silk-rearing and 6,300 others get necessary assistance for mulberry transplantation.
Under the schemes, 7,700 farmers are being imparted training on mulberry plant rearing, silkworm nursing and yarn reeling.
Six silkworm rearing-cum-display centres and one silk reeling weaving training centre will be built.
Director General Shyam Kishore said the government has taken initiative to revive the silk industry.
Market promotion works are also being progressed. The sericulture and silk industry, by its nature, is a family-based labour-intensive economic activity that provides employment for rural people.
He said the initiative has been taken to re-launch the Rajshahi and Thakurgaon Silk Factories fully. Five in Rajshahi Silk Factory have already been resumed.
At least 15 metric tons of silk yarn could be manufactured along with a job creation scope for around 10,000 people if we can resume all the 58 looms in the two state-owned factories, he added.
He said sericulture has a huge prospect if we could nurture it properly as there is a huge potential export market for our silk. Kishore, however, said BSDB has a plan of bringing Chinese experts to train the local farmers which will help boost silk production.
