Two Sericulture Schemes for Manipur Were Launched by Minister of State

Minister of State for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar has launched two sericulture schemes for Manipur, at the state capital Imphal.

The schemes are Phase II of Sericulture Project for Valley Districts of Manipur and Integrated Sericulture Development Project for Hill Districts of Manipur.

The Phase II of Manipur Sericulture Project has been approved by the Ministry of Textiles under the North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS). The project has been approved for implementation of mulberry sericulture development programmes over a period of three years—from 2014-15 to 2016-17—at a total cost of Rs 149.76 crore, of which the Ministry’s share is Rs 126.60 crore. The Central government’s share of Rs 30.08 crore meant for 2014-15 has already been released to the state.

The department of sericulture, government of Manipur, has brushed 11.69 lakh mulberry dfls in the project area and has produced 615.45 MT of cocoons with a cocoon productivity of 52 kg/ 100 dfls with the existing acreage available, with around 2500 farmers.

The project is expected to yield 638 MT of mulberry raw silk with a value of Rs 159.38 crore during the project period. After attaining full potential, the project will facilitate production of 203 MT of mulberry raw silk/year with a value of Rs 50.62 crore at current prices, an official press release said.

Under the Integrated Sericulture Development Project, development of eri and mulberry in hill districts of Manipur under NERTPS, over a period of three years from 2014-15 to 2016-17, has been approved by Ministry of Textiles. The project has been approved at a total cost of Rs 30.39 crore, with the Ministry’s share being Rs 24.67 crore.

The project is expected to yield 29 MT of mulberry raw silk and 38 MT of eri spun silk with involvement of 1,400 project beneficiaries during the project period. Further, after attaining full potential, the project shall facilitate production of 20.60 MT of mulberry raw silk and 31 MT of eri spun silk per annum.

The project interventions will address the gaps and facilitate optimum utilisation of the infrastructure created at the beneficiary as well as Government level. The beneficiaries will be supported for raising plantation, rearing houses, farming and rearing appliances, training etc. which will enable them to earn an average income of Rs 45,000 per acre/year/farmer from the sale of mulberry cocoons, and Rs 36,000 per acre/year/farmer from eri culture activity; which shall be in addition to their regular income through existing avocation/agriculture activity.

The group based activities viz. Chawkie Rearing Centres and Common Facility Centres for reeling, twisting, spinning, design development and weaving shall provide necessary linkages for value addition and marketing within the project clusters. The linkages for silkworm seed and marketing support built into the project shall ensure sustainability of the activity after the completion of the project. The project shall also help to create local employment for those who otherwise migrate at regular intervals to urban areas.