Hassan district has emerged as one of the major districts in the State in silk production.

This year alone, 392 farmers got into sericulture. “In sericulture, farmers do not face losses, provided they give constant attention and work hard,” said H.D. Shivananjaiah, Deputy Director (Extension) of Sericulture in Hassan.

The department had set a target of bringing 250 hectares more into sericulture in the district in the current fiscal year. By November itself, the department succeeded in extend sericulture to 243 hectares.

With that, the total sericulture area in the district has gone up to 1,404 hectares and number of farmers producing silk is 2,244.

“A few years ago, the number of farmers in sericulture in the district was very high, but the production was low. In the recent years, the production has gone up owing to advances in technology. Many people gave up this as it demanded constant vigil and hard work,” the official told The Hindu.

In the current year, silk production in the district has reached 425 tonnes as against the annual target of 700 tonnes. The department is sure of reaching the target by the end of March 2018.

“The factor that attracts people to sericulture is the price they get in the cocoon market. Last year, the price per kg went up to 3,200,” the official said.

The department has chosen a few places to produce basic seed cocoons required for the production of disease-free layings.

Hassan is also one such area designated for production of bivoltine seed cocoon. Sericulturists from Hassan and neighbouring districts approach the cold storage unit at the grainage (seed production centre) for the eggs. “Farmers are advised to carry eggs in evening or early morning hours as eggs should not be exposed to high temperature. We have a cold storage unit, where we store eggs for next four-five months. We have already stored eggs required up to March 2018,” said Annaji Rao, Deputy Director in-charge of production of seed cocoons.

The cold storage unit was set up in 1985. Eggs are kept in compartments with temperatures varying from 25C to 2.5C.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Hassan – December 02nd, 2017