GUWAHATI, Jan 18 - Underlining the socio-economic importance of sericulture in sustaining the livelihood of a sizeable rural population, Union Minister of State for Textiles Ajay Tamta has assured of all support to the State to develop its sericulture sector.
Addressing mediapersons here last evening, the Minister divulged that more than Rs 200 crore has been released for the State and that additional aid will be provided for developing infrastructure.
�Sericulture is an age-old tradition here and we will extend all support to make it a dominant rural industry,� assured the Minister, stressing the need to explore the immense potential of the State in sericulture.
The Minister, who visited various clusters here to assess the status of sericulture farms and activities of farmers, said that the farmers have been facing certain problems due to lack of proper fencing of gardens and shortage of water. He promised to look into all the issues of the farmers and asserted that modern technology would be made accessible to the farmers.
On the other hand, speaking on the potential of the North East, Tamta said that Assam and the other states of the region enjoy the unique distinction of producing all four varieties of commercially exploited natural silks � eri, muga, mulberry and oak tasar.
�Production of raw silk has shown an increasing trend in the North East during the last few years due to concerted efforts made by the Government of India in a systematic way,� mentioned Tamta, adding that to enhance raw silk productivity at the farmer level, a total area of 88,476 hectares has been brought under silkworm food plant in the region.
Tamta further said that the Union Ministry of Textiles has sanctioned 22 projects under the North Eastern Region Textiles Promotion Scheme with the Govt of India�s share of Rs 646.35 crore for development of mulberry, eri and muga sectors in the region.
�Under these projects it is estimated that additional 1472.44 metric tonnes of raw silk will be produced,� said Tamta.
The Union Minister also stressed the importance of diversifying sericulture into high yielding economic activity which would generate employment, ensure greater returns to the farmers and promote self-reliance.
