Shimla, June 23 (IANS) The Central Sericulture Board plans to open a demonstration and training centre in Himachal Pradesh, an official said here Wednesday.
‘We are planning to open a demonstration and training service centre under the post-cocoon section in the state. A team of technical experts would shortly visit the state to identify the location,’ board chairman H. Hanumanthappa told reporters.
He was here to preside over the meeting to review the performance of the board’s Catalytic Development Programme (CDP). Representatives of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh attended the meeting.
Hanumanthappa said raw silk production in the country was 19,600 metric tonnes in the last fiscal.
The board’s member secretary, M. Sathiyavathy, asked the beneficiary states to effectively implement the CDP that had shown encouraging results in sustainability and productivity of raw silk.
‘The board has been implementing various schemes across the country for improving the production of cocoon through expansion of existing infrastructure, training and supply of vital inputs to the beneficiaries and government-run centres,’ she said.
Himachal Pradesh’s industries director J.C. Sharma said cross hybrid silk cocoons would soon be introduced in the state.
He said the board had agreed to provide technical and financial support to the state to expand its sericulture industry.
More than 9,000 farmers are directly involved in cocoon cultivation in Himachal Pradesh, mainly in Bilaspur, Mandi, Kangra, Una, Hamirpur and Sirmaur districts.
