Date:09/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/09/stories/2008080954610500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Silk reeling unit to go on steam from August 23

Special Correspondent

It will have a capacity to produce 35 tonnes of fine quality white silk
One more unit will come up at Udumalpet

TIRUCHI: An automatic silk reeling unit, established at Gobichettipalayam with assistance from the Central Silk Board and the State government, will start functioning on August 23, according to Harmander Singh, Commissioner, Sericulture.

While the Central Silk Board has provided a subsidy of Rs.50 lakh, the State has contributed Rs.15 lakh for establishing the unit as part of the efforts at strengthening the post-cocoon processing in the country. This will be one of the first two units sanctioned in the country. The other has been set up in Andhra Pradesh.

The private sector unit will have a capacity to produce 35 tonnes of fine quality white silk, which is mostly being imported from China.

Tamil Nadu has since been sanctioned one more unit, and it will come up at Udumalpet, with the same amount of subsidy from the Central Silk Board and the State, Mr. Singh told reporters after reviewing the performance of the Sericulture Department here on Friday.

Steps were being taken to improve the cottage and multi-end reeling units to improve the quality of silk. About 15 reeling units run by the Sarvodya Sangh had been provided with assistance for buying new machines. Fifteen others would get assistance for purchasing hot driers so that the cocoons could be preserved for a longer time before being processed.

Tamil Nadu had the fourth largest area (35,000 acres) under mulberry in the country, and it produced 10,000 tonnes of cocoons a year. The area of cultivation had increased by 10,000 acres during 2007-08, and the department targeted to increase it by another 10,000 acres this year. Cocoons prices had improved of late, Mr. Singh said, and farmers could benefit from sericulture.

During 2007-08, the department disbursed Rs.12 crore in subsidy to 10,000 farmers for raising plantations, constructing sheds, installing drip irrigation systems and buying other equipment. This year, Rs.18 crore would be disbursed to an equal number of farmers, as the subsidy under various schemes had been increased substantially.

Answering a query on the hesitation among banks to lend loans for sericulture, Mr. Singh said the department, in association with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, would soon convene a meeting with the managers of the lead banks in all districts to sensitise them to the scope for advancing loans. Bankers would also be taken on a field visit to convince them of the viability of the projects.