High-yielding worms, mulberry plants bring hope to Rajshahi silk industry

The golden tradition of silk industries is expected to revive within the shortest possible time with breakthrough innovation of high-yielding varieties of silkworms and mulberry plants.

Bangladesh Sericulture Research and Training Institute (BSRTI) has innovated 20 silkworm and 15 mulberry plant varieties after long research creating massive hope of revitalization of the prestigious silk sector.

BSRTI Senior Scientific Officer (SSO) Faruque Ahmed said silk production will be enhanced by around 12 to 15 per cent together with decreasing the dependence on the import of silk yarn amid the variety of innovations recently. Farmers will also be benefited enormously by the innovation.

Since the immemorial time, Rajshahi has been famous for silk but its legacy was on the verge of waning for the last couple of decades. BSRTI has started showing the dreams of the golden day’s silks again in the region.

Faruque Ahmed said they conducted the research under a five-year project for the production enhancement of silk through technology development expansion and skilled manpower generation.

Through the Tk 35.66-crore project, 20 silkworms and 15 mulberry plants have been added to the present stock cumulating the number of silkworms to 114, while mulberry plants to 38.

Apart from this, the mulberry variety has been elevated to 84 from 60, while the silkworm variety to 114, including 27 high-yielding ones, from 85 in BSRTI’s germplasm bank with the development of 35 new varieties.

By dint of the innovation of 20 silkworm varieties, production of 70 to 75 kilograms of silk could be possible from per 100 disinfectant eggs within less time, while the previous figure was 60 to 65 kilograms.

Besides, 40 to 47 tons of mulberry leaves could be produced per hectare of land yearly amid the innovation of the 15 mulberry varieties, whereas the previous figure was 30 to 37 tons.

Another SSO Rumana Ferdus Bint-A-Rahman said the newly developed varieties will be expanded to the grassroots farmers as soon as possible so that they can derive total benefits from the research outcomes.

BSRTI Director Kazi Rafiqul Islam said they are encouraging the farmers towards mulberry farming as the main crop with the ultimate goal of boosting silk production. Currently, mulberry plants are being cultivated on homesteads and roadside vacant places.

He also said intercropping mulberry trees with some other vegetables and spices is being promoted among the farmers aimed at uplifting silk production.

Rafiqul Islam mentioned the prospect of intercropping is very bright to boost additional income from the same land together with silk cocoon production throughout the region.

Professor Dr Nuzhat Ara of the Department of Zoology of Rajshahi University said the prospect has increased with the extension of mulberry cultivation on around 8,000 hectares of land including roadside plantations throughout the country for the last couple of years.

The mulberry is cultivated for silkworm rearing and the production of silk cocoons.

Mulberry cultivation is more or less dependent on the fallow lands and other roadside mulberry plants without proper management practices at present.

Prof Nuzhat Ara said the research outputs were positive relating to the production of spices, vegetables and mulberry leaves along with attaining food security.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Sericulture Development Board (BSDB) has been implementing three projects involving around Tk 96.83 crore for improving the living and livelihood conditions of the grassroots farmers particularly the distressed women through substantial and sustainable development of the traditional silk sector.

BSDB Director General Shyam Kishore Roy said they are implementing the projects almost throughout the country, particularly the potential ones for silk farming and rearing with the main thrust of achieving the sustainable development goals.

He 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 socio-economic condition by involving them in sericulture.