Jammu, Feb 19: Minister for Agriculture Production, Ghulam Hassan Mir today inaugurated a workshop on ‘Need Based Approach to overcome Constraints in Development of Bivoltine Sericulture in J&K’, organized by the Department of Sericulture and Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute (CSR&TI), Pampore Kashmir.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister, according to an official statement, dwelt on the past glory of sericulture industry of the State and expressed hope that the State can once again revive these activities, provided concerted efforts are made by the Sericulture Department and Research institute. He said that there was no dearth of funds for supporting the growth of this industry, but there is a need that proper developmental strategies are framed and subsequently implemented to achieve the desired goals.
The Minister said that apart from development of pre-cocoon sector, there is an urgent need to develop post cocoon related activities, as presently, over 70 per cent of the raw material was being exported outside the State. He said that such areas have to be strengthened so that value addition of the raw material, locally available, gets converted into yarn, as well as fabric, and added that this can open ample opportunities for unemployed educated youth. He advised the officers of the Sericulture Department and the scientists of Central Silk Board and SKUAST to draw action plan on these lines to give boost to the overall sericulture sector of the State.
On the occasion, Director Sericulture Development Department,   M. A. Khan, gave a resume of the activities of the Department, besides the State and centrally sponsored schemes, being implemented in the State. He said that the cocoon production in the State has gone upto 810 MT, during 2009-10 as compared to the production of 738 MT, during 2008-09. The income of the farmers during the current year has been 800 lakh, as against Rs 345 lakh last year.
Director, CSR&TI,   Mohammad Ashraf Khan highlighted the problems faced to the J&K silk industry and the measures for boosting the Bivoltine Silk Production in the State. He briefed about the priority areas and the probable approaches for development of the industry.
The workshop was presided over by Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production Department,   Iqbal Khanday, officers from the Sericulture Development Department, Central Silk Board, SKUAST, Jammu, Kashmir, besides the representatives of rearers, reelers and weavers of the State participated in the workshop.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 IST