Sericulture brings cheer to farmers

- Farmers who have faced losses in groundnut cultivation for years now reaping profits through sericulture
- Officials intend to increase mulberry plantation in the district from its present 32,000 acres to 50,000 acres, by 2019-20

Uravakonda (Anantapur): Several small and marginal groundnut farmers from Uravakonda, Dharmavaram, Hindupur and other mandals in the district, owning less than 5 acres of land and with a history of accumulated losses in groundnut cultivation are now earning handsomely in mulberry cultivation under the sericulture programme. Speaking to The Hans India, Krishna Naik, a farmer of Uravakonda said he had quit groundnut cultivation in his four-acre land following losses for three consecutive years.

“I had accumulated a lot of debt and even contemplated suicide. It was then that I came to know through the Sericulture department personnel that mulberry plantation was a much better option and more remunerative. I decided to give it a try and planted mulberry plants in my land. In a single crop, I earned Rs70, 000 against an expenditure of a mere Rs 10,000 as the government had subsidized my investment. Sericulture has helped me and many farmers to become debt-free,” said a beaming Mohan Naik.

The department of Sericulture has promoted mulberry plantation in 935 villages and as many as 24,566 farmers have a stake in producing silk which is supplied to weavers in Dharmavaram, Kadiri, Hindupuram and other places in the district. Of the 24,566 sericulture farmers in the district, 15,929 are small farmers, 5420 are marginal farmers and 3221 are big farmers.

Krishna Reddy of Dharmavaram who has been raising mulberry plantation in his 10-acres of the land for the last five years says that he has never incurred any losses. He said that government patronage of the crop was helping the mulberry farmers to earn anywhere between Rs 30,000 to 50,000 per hectare and added that there was no volatility about the crop like agriculture crops which were dependent on the monsoon.

Farmers are cultivating the Victory-1 variety of mulberry plants with crop duration of 70 days, at an average of five crops a year and earning good profits. Silk worms are supplied to the farmers by the government, which are stored in the sheds built by the farmers at a subsidised cost. The farmers feed the worms with mulberry leaves for 15 days after which they are rested for three days. After 18 days the worms weave cocoons around them and are supplied to Reelers who in turn eliminate the worms through a heat process, preserve the silk threads and supply the same to weavers for making sarees.

Sericulture joint director C Aruna Kumari told The Hans India that according to their vision statement, mulberry plantation in the district would be increased to 50,000 acres from its present 32,000 acres, by 2019-20. She said that the production of cocoons would also shoot up to 32,000 metric tonnes from its present level of 18,000 metric tonnes. The objective was to keep the district on top in sericulture plantation, said Aruna Kumari and added that Rs 14 crore was spent on various incentives and subsidies to sericulture farmers in 2014-15.

Ravi P Benjamin