Impact of R & D

Sericulture plays a vital role in determining the economy of rural population in India. Even if, the contribution of sericulture is not very high but it helped to increase the socio economic conditions of farmers.  Consequently any Research and Development programme aimed at the improvement of productivity potential of the sericulture contributes to:

 

(i)    The rural employment

(ii)   Socioeconomic development of the farmer without environmental damage

(iii)  The foreign exchange reserves

 

It can be reckoned that any obstacles in sericultural development can be hazardous to the economy of sericulturists in India. The good news is that technology has helped to overcome many of these obstacles with some very advantageous results. The technologies developed by this Institute have been popularized among the farmers to maximize yield and returns which in turn resulted in bringing out vertical growth of the industry.

 

The annual mulberry raw silk production has increased to the tune of 23,060 M.T. (2011-12), which includes 18,272 MT mulberry silk, 1,590 MT Tasar silk, 3,072 MT Eri silk and 126 MT Muga silk.  The constant efforts made by CSB and state sericulture department have resulted in the over all increase in the silk production and quality.

 

Scientists working in sericulture Research and Development are constantly putting their efforts to resolve issues in major areas of sericulture such as silkworm and host plant improvement, pest and disease management, and reduction in cost of production by developing new innovations and technologies and improving the quality of silk fibers to match with international standards.  CSB has also been collaborating with both international and national agencies and  universities involved in sericultural research, etc., to harness their technical expertise in highly specialized fields and also to pool resources for the development of new technologies in frontier areas of sericulture research.

 

Over the past few decades, the silk industry made good progress with regard to productivity and quality of the output. The productivity of mulberry plantation in terms of silk which used to be less than 40 kg per hectare per year has reached 86 kg per hectare per year besides enhancing India’s capability to produce silk of international grades. This could be possible due to evolution of high yielding mulberry varieties such as V1, S1635, S1, S799, S13, S34, S146, BC­259  and improved silkworm breeds like CSR2xCSR4, CSR2xCSR5, etc along with appropriate cultivation and rearing practices. The output coupled with the improved processing machinery and practices have made it possible to produce silk of international standards.