Lok Sabha Question No. 4754 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-30
Subject: Mulberry Cultivation
Ministry: TEXTILES
Asked by: RAJU ALIAS DEVAPPA ANNA SHETTI

## MULBERRY CULTIVATION

## 4754.   SHRI  RAJU SHETTY:

Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंरी be pleased to state:

- (a) the area under mulberry cultivation in the country;
- (b) whether mulberry cultivation is expanding in more States and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the expected area under mulberry cultivation in 2021-22;
- (d) the present production and expected production of silk through mulberry in 2021-22;
- (e) the manner in which the Government is promoting this crop at present; and
- (f) the future action plan of the Government to promote sericulture?

## ANSWER ( अज

## )

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TEXTILES (SHRI AJAY TAMTA)

- (a) & (b): Present  area  under  mulberry  cultivation  in  the  country  (as  on  Jan-2017)  is 2,23,080  Ha..  The  mulberry  cultivation  in  the  country  has  enhanced  from  20,8,950  Ha  during 2015-16 to 2,23,080 Ha during 2016-17 (up to January, 2017). State-wise mulberry area during 2016-17 (up to January, 2017) in comparison with the year 2015-16 is given in Annexure-I.
- (c): The estimated/targeted area under mulberry cultivation in the country by 2021-22 is about 2,56,600 Ha.
- (d): The actual mulberry raw silk production during 2015-16 and the present mulberry raw silk production  during  the  current  year  2016-17  (up  to  January,2017)  and  the  estimated/targeted mulberry raw silk production by 2021-22 are given below:-

| Year               | Mulberry silk production in MTs   |
|--------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2015-16 (Actual)   | 20,480                            |
| 2016-17 (Apr-Jan)* | 17,165                            |
| 2021-22 (Target)   | 31,500                            |

(e): Government of India through Central Silk Board (CSB) has taken following steps to promote the mulberry sericulture in the country:-

(i)  Four  mulberry  varieties  viz.,  C2038,  G4,  Suvarna-2  and  Tr-23  have  been  developed.  A new mulberry variety PPR-1 with the advantages of early sprouting, greater rooting efficiency and  enhanced  leaf  yield  was  released  for  commercial  exploitation  in  temperate  regions  of Jammu and Kashmir.

(ii) A new mulberry genotype C-13, having leaf yield potential of 1.27 kg per plant/yr with 18.8% yield improvement over S-1635 (1.066 kg) was developed.

(iii) A low temperature  stress  tolerant  mulberry  genotypes  with  high  leaf  yield  viz.,  C-108 (15.4 mt) C-384 (9.7 mt) and C-212 (9.2 mt) has been identified.

(iv) 1269 Mulberry Germplasm accessions are being conserved in the ex situ field gene bank for gene pool conservation and breeding

(v)  Field  evaluation  of  'Nemahari',  a  bio-nematicide  has  been  done  which  resulted  in  the reduction of root knot disease up to 80% with an improved leaf yield (15-18%).

R&D efforts  made  by  the  CSB  have  helped  in  improving  the  mulberry  productivity  from 50 MT/Ha/year during 2005-06 to 58 MT/Ha/year during 2015-16 and cocoon productivity from 706 Kg/Ha. during 2005-06 to 750 Kg/Ha. during 2015-16.

(vi)  For  production  of  bivoltine  silk  which  is  the  high  quality  mulberry  silk,  the  different measures have been taken such as, development of improved of mulberry varieties viz. V1, G4,  G2,  organization  of  176  bivoltine  clusters  under  Cluster  Promotion  Programme  (CPP) during XII Plan, strengthening of Cold Storage facilities and Bivoltine grainages to produce, store  and  supply  quality  Bivoltine  silkworm  seed  and  implementation  of  one  Intensive Bivoltine  Sericulture  project  at  a  total  cost  of  Rs.236.78  Cr.  in  eight  North  Eastern  States from  2015-16  exclusively  to  promote  Bivoltine  silk,  under  North  East  Region  Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS).

(f): Government  has  drawn  different  future  plans  for  promotion  of  sericulture  industry  in  the country. Some of them are as under:-

(i) Major intervention towards achieving self-sufficiency in import substitute bivoltine silk and bringing shift from cross breeds to improved cross breeds for making Indian silk industry self-sufficient  globally  competitive  by  2020,  organic  farming,  use  of  non-conventional energy, strengthening public extension system, Swacchha Resham Adarsh Gram, IT enabled effective monitoring system, support to address critical gaps in infrastructure at stakeholder level, strengthening of seri-input delivery mechanism and to continue the mechanization for improving the productivity, quality and reducing the drudgery.

(ii) To  improve  the  quality  silk  yarn  of  international  standards  and  reduce  wastage,  to undertake focus on indigenously made Automatic Reeling Machines (ARMs)  with Automatic Reeling/Automatic Dupion Reeling units.

(iii) To take up use of silk in Biomaterial research in the medical field for applications such as sutures, surgical bandages, optical devices, cell scaffolding and adhesive gels and also in cosmetic fields.

(iv) Convergence    with  other  schemes  of  the  Government  of  India  such  as  MGNREGA, RKVY etc.  to  tap  resources  for  the  integrated  development  of  sericulture  mainly  towards expanding the area under host plantation.

(v) To take up International Collaborative projects with Japan, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, China etc. for exchange genetic materials to develop improved silkworm breeds suitable to Indian conditions.

## Annexure-I

## Standing Mulberry Area in different States during 2015-16 and 2016-17

| #   | State            | Mulberry Area (ha)   | Mulberry Area (ha)   |
|-----|------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
| #   | State            | 2015-16              | 2016-17 (Apr-Jan)    |
| 1   | Andhra Pradesh   | 29829                | 32822                |
| 2   | Ar. Pradesh      | 341                  | 381                  |
| 3   | Assam            | 7765                 | 7994                 |
| 4   | Bihar            | 743                  | 751                  |
| 5   | Chhattisgarh     | 771                  | 793                  |
| 6   | Haryana          | 171                  | 170                  |
| 7   | Himachal Pradesh | 2088                 | 2135                 |
| 8   | Jammu &Kashmir   | 8237                 | 8304                 |
| 9   | Jharkhand        | 372                  | 372                  |
| 10  | Karnataka        | 87600                | 92122                |
| 11  | Kerala           | 141                  | 137                  |
| 12  | Madhya Pradesh   | 5597                 | 6173                 |
| 13  | Maharashtra      | 3947                 | 3474                 |
| 14  | Manipur          | 7338                 | 7548                 |
| 15  | Meghalaya        | 3009                 | 3137                 |
| 16  | Mizoram          | 3843                 | 4009                 |
| 17  | Nagaland         | 743                  | 1043                 |
| 18  | Orissa           | 584                  | 686                  |
| 19  | Punjab           | 1129                 | 1129                 |
| 20  | Sikkim           | 198                  | 198                  |
| 21  | Tamil Nadu       | 16160                | 19176                |
| 22  | Telangana        | 2509                 | 2664                 |
| 23  | Tripura          | 3161                 | 3261                 |
| 24  | Uttar Pradesh    | 4200                 | 5680                 |
| 25  | Uttarakhand      | 2974                 | 3029                 |
| 26  | West Bengal      | 15500                | 15892                |
|     | Total            | 208950               | 223080               |