Call to double raw silk production

India's raw silk production should be doubled to 46,000 tonne by 2016-17, Union Minister of Textiles K Sambasiva Rao has said.

"Raw silk production in the country should be doubled to 46,000 million tonne during the terminal year of 12th Plan period i.e., 2016-17 with an annual growth rate of 20-25 per cent in silk production," Rao said during his visit to the Central Silk Board here for a review meeting.

The area under mulberry cultivation should be raised from 196,000 hectares to 300,000 hectares by then, said a Silk Board release quoting the minister.

Rao also said the board and its research institutes should conduct more and more training programmes, covering larger number of beneficiaries involving various sericulture activities.

"Plantation development, disease management, silkworm seed production, quality cocoon production, and post-cocoon activities like silk reeling, spinning, weaving, processing, and design develo- pment and byproduct development activities would ensure self employment in the silk industry to boost their economic gains and returns," he said.

During the visit yesterday, Rao launched 10-ends concept model of automatic silk reeling machine developed by Central Silk Technological Research Institute (CSTRI), the release said.

Based on this, concept model 120 to 200 ends automatic silk reeling machines will be developed and this will help in reduction of manpower and improving the quality of raw silk equivalent to imported raw silk, it added.