Though Karnataka remains the country’s leading producer of raw silk, horticulture is posing stiff competition to sericulture in southern parts of the State while mulberry cultivation is picking pace in north Karnataka.

Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, Central Silk Board’s (CSB) Member Secretary P. Sivakumar said, “A declining trend in sericulture had been observed in southern parts of the State, where horticultural crops have emerged as a good alternative to the farmers.”

Even though the cocoons are commanding a good price in the market, the farmers have been lured by the good markets for horticulture produce from the food and flower industry.

Mulberry raw silk accounts for 29,000 tonnes of the total 39,000 tonnes of raw silk produced in India every year, and Karnataka accounts for 40% of the country’s 29,000 tonnes of mulberry raw silk.

Mr. Sivakumar, who was in Mysuru on Friday to inaugurate a month-long training programme on ‘Sericulture and Silk Industry’ for overseas candidates at Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute (CSRTI) in Mysuru, also emphasized the need for the sericulture industry to shift its focus from fabrics to its applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industry.

“Silk is not just fabric-centric. We want to concentrate on the pharma and cosmetic industry also. Ten companies are already working on pharma and cosmetic applications of silk,” he said, adding that the CSB would like to focus on sericulture’s applications in the food industry also.

While Thailand has been using anti-aging cream developed as a by-product of the silk industry, Singapore has been importing pupae for human consumption. Mulberry fruits are used for the manufacture of wine in countries like Romania and Cuba, he said adding that there was a need for the sericulture industry to diversify from fabrics to pharma, cosmetics, and foods to enable the farmers to earn money from different sectors.

Presently, dried pupae are exported to countries like Germany and France for dog food. In India, dried pupae are used as food in the poultry and fisheries sector, he said.

Research has also concluded in the area of producing sericin-based bread for higher protein content.

The export of silkworm eggs, which started about four to five years ago, had picked up pace during the last one or two years, according to S. Manthira Moorthy, Director (Tech) CSB, Bengaluru. India was exporting silkworm eggs to several countries including Iran, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Egypt, and Ghana, where the sericulture industry had just started.

After exporting sericulture equipment like multi-end reeling machines, leaves choppers, mountages, and harvesters, India will soon be exporting indigenously produced Automatic Reeling Machines (ARMs) too, he said.