Silk farmers struggle for survival as demand falls to near zero

Tamil Nadu is the leader in silk rearing or sericulture, with 25,237 farmers in the State being involved in growing mulberry in 49,716 acres of land, show government data. Sericulture provides direct and indirect employment to 2.32 lakh people in the State.

However, after coronavirus cases were reported in the State which led to the imposition of the lockdown, silk farmers stopped cultivating mulberry, the feed for silkworms, and stopped rearing the worms. They now fear that 2020 could be the year when silk farming would start registering a decline.

"Almost all the farmers stopped cultivating mulberry plant and rearing silk worms for close to six months after the demand for silk slid to almost zero," said S Moorthy, State president, Tamil Nadu Silk Farmers’ Association.

Silk price started to fall in 2015; since then, there was no recovery. “The main reason for the decrease in price is the illegal entry of Chinese silk into the market," said Moorthy, adding that the situation could change in the coming years if the Union government continued the strict ban on Chinese products.

Silk farmers said that price of cocoons has fallen drastically in the lockdown period. "Before lockdown, the cocoons were being sold for Rs 300 to Rs 350 per kilogram. But after lockdown, no one is ready to buy cocoons even for Rs 200 per kg, due to which most farmers have stopped sericulture," said A Seenivasagan, a silk farmer from Kovilpatti.

A silk farmer has to spend Rs 250 per kg of cocoon, starting from raising the mulberry plant to maintaining the silk worms, sending them for hatchery, transportation and other such costs, he said.

"Earlier, sericulture was a lucrative option for the farmers. But after Chinese silk made entry illegally, domestic silk had lost its sheen. Silk farmers can rise back only if cocoon is sold for more than Rs 400 per kg," opined Seenivasagan.