Bangalore, June 10, 2011
Karnataka plans one more all party delegation to the Centre on silk issue
The Hindu All India Struggle Committee Against Duty Free Silk Import consisting of Sericulture farmer's, Reelers, Kisan organisations and industry members protest in front of Director of Sericulture office, near Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore on March 09, 2011. Photo: K. Murali Kumar.
Karnataka Government today said it has planned to take another all party delegation to the Centre to demand withdrawal of customs duty cut on imported silk and seek a ban on its import from China to help farmers in the State, who have been hit by crash in prices.
“Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa will soon lead an all-party delegation to the Centre to seek restoration of customs duty on imported silk to the earlier level of 30 per cent, instead of five per cent being levied now”, Minister for Sericulture and Labour B N Bacche gowda told a press conference in Bangalore.
Consequent to lowering to customs duty from 30 to five per cent, prices of raw silk and cocoons have slumped in Karnataka, which accounts for about 60 per cent of silk production in the country, causing severe hardship to growers as more Chinese silk was entering the market, he said.
Mr. Yeddyurappa had led an all party delegation to Delhi on March 21 to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with a similar demand and had also called on the Union Finance and Agriculture Ministers.
The government has so far released Rs 17 crore for market intervention by Karnataka Silk Marketing Board and the Chief Minister has promised to release another Rs 10 crore on June 13 to arrest fall in raw silk and cocoon prices, Mr. Gowda said.
After the government’s intervention, prices of cocoons have stabilised at Rs 200-240 per Kg and Rs 1800-2000 per kg of raw silk yarn, he said.
| Forum threatens bundh on June 28 if Govt does not act | |
| Silk farmers to lay siege to Soudha on June 14 | |
The silk farmers of Chikkaballapur district have decided to lay siege to the Vidhana Soudha on June 14. They will also be observing a district-wide bundh on June 28. | |
 A decision to this effect was taken, owing to the apathetic attitude of both - the State and and the Centre - towards the plight of the silk farmers, disclosed president of the District Silk Farmers’ Welfare Forum Mallur Shivanna, at a press conference here on Saturday.Price fall The rate of cocoon, which was once Rs 450 per kg, is now merely Rs 120. As a result, both silk growers and reelers are experiencing serious financial crisis. Several appeals to alleviate the problem have fallen on deaf ears, Shivanna rued. Referring to the decision to lay siege to the Vidhana Soudha, Forum convenor Yaluvahalli Sonnegowda said about five thousand silk growers from the district would participate in the protest. “It the Government still fails to respond, all the seven districts growing silk will be closed on June 28,” he warned. Negligence Due to the soft stand adopted by the silk farmers, the Governments were neglecting their plight. They had failed to respond to the needs of silk farmers. Hence, in order to seek the attention of the Governments the silk farmers had decided to launch a massive agitation. They will continue to fight till their demands were met with, Shivanna said. Unfulfilled promises Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and Union Minister for Law and Justice Veerappa Moily had promised to solve the problems of the silk farmers and silk reelers. But so far, they had not bothered to keep their promise. It was in protest against this attitute that it had become inevitable for the silk farmers to lay a seige to the Vidhana Soudha and had also decided to declare ‘district bundh,’ the president said. The ruling party leaders are busy trying to save the Government while the Opposition leaders spend time planning on overthrowing the Government. “Meanwhile, however, we continue suffering. There is nobody redressing our problems although the silk industry continues losing Rs four to five crore per day,” he added. Silk growers Bhaktarahalli Byregowda, Mallur Harish, H K Suresh, Kolavanahalli Muniraju and others were present at the press conference. | |
Silk farmers reel as cocoon prices go into freefall
Deepa Kurup
| Import duty on raw silk has been cut from 30 to 5 per cent |
SAD SAGA:The mood is grim at the Ramanagaram Government Cocoon Market after prices remained depressed for the 10th consecutive day.
Double whammy
The loss is greater and the risk more acute for farmers like Krishnappa from Kurubura Doddi, who cultivate mulberry on leased land. He sold 52 kg of cocoon at Rs. 105, barely covering half his investment. “A large portion of my crop failed. The two good crops this year were sold at a huge loss. How long can we go on like this?” If this continues, Krishnappa, like his brother, will have to migrate to the city. Growing paddy or sugarcane may not be an option because of acute water scarcity.
Almost every farmer at the market here has a similar tale to tell. With no government support, every step of silk cultivation — from buying eggs or worms to fertilizers, even water — runs on informal credit. Indebtedness is endemic among farmers, who have seen prices crash from Rs. 380 a kg of cocoon in January to the current Rs. 120.
Karnataka to fix cocoon support price May 25, 2011
In view of the sharp fall in silk cocoon prices, the Karnataka government has assured that it would fix a support price for cocoon very soon. Owing to a rise in supply of the commodity and import of silk from China after the Centre reduced the import duty from 30 percent to five percent in 2011-12, the cocoon prices have dropped from Rs. 350 per kg to Rs. 100 per kg, Karnataka’s Sericulture and Labour Minister BN Bache Gowda said. The Minister assured that he would discuss the issue of support price with Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and get the minimum support prices fixed within a few days. The Karnataka Silk Marketing Board (KSMB) would be provided a sum of Rs. 150 million to purchase cocoons from market, because farmers spend almost Rs. 180 to produce one kg of cocoon, and hence their interest needs to be taken care of, Gowda said. Recently, the sericulture farmers from Kolar, Ramanagaram and other regions staged protests and blocked roads while seeking government intervention for getting the previous prices restored. The Minister apprised that a delegation would head to Delhi and call upon Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to get the import duty restored at original 30 percent levels to hold back the silk imports from China. Gowda further said that, cocoon prices fell due to a drop in raw silk prices which plummeted from Rs. 2,600 to Rs. 1,800 per kg. The cocoon farmers last year earned Rs. 300 to 350 per kg of cocoon. The government in February 2011 released Rs. 120 million to KSMB to procure 60 tons of cocoons from the 62 cocoon markets that the State houses. Rise in area under mulberry cultivation and an approximate 30 percent rise in cocoon supply due to good production, has led to a drop in cocoon prices in leading sericulture hubs in Karnataka.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
AS on 31.03.2011 Karnataka Tamil Nadu
mulberry cultivation acres 40000 31,362
sericulturists farmers, 1.4 lakh 8.15 20,165
cocoon production tons 55,000 8157
cocoon markets 62 19
licences reelers 13,500 1387
annual silk production Tons 10000 1200
about Rs 2,000 crore change hands at these exchanges every year,