BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

Production & Supply of P1 seed

Production & Supply of P1 seed

  • Right now, supply of basic silkworm seed (from P4 to P1) required for production of commercial silkworm seed is under the control of Government.
  • P1 seed production capacity available with Government may not be enough keeping in view the country’s raw silk production target of 50,000 MT by 2030.
  • This production target would require supply of around 50 cr DFLs of commercial silkworm seed, which would necessitate enhancing production capacity at P1 stages.
  • The company can explore the possibility of getting in to silkworm seed production at P1 level, either alone or in association with Government.
Supply of Seri Equipment & Chemicals

Supply of Seri Equipment & Chemicals

  • Availability of manpower being an issue, there is increased thrust on mechanization in sericulture.
  • There is rampant use of substandard chemicals in sericulture affecting productivity and environment.
  • Here lies a business. opportunity to get in to supply of equipment (both indigenous and imported) for mechanization and supply of standard and recommended chemicals to sericulture farmers.
  • Around 3 lakh farmers involved in sericulture can be considered as target group.
  • Setting up units for production of standard chemicals following norms prescribed by R&D Institutes can also be considered as a business option.
Seri Tourism

Seri Tourism

  • Sericulture is one of the oldest and a well-known traditional activity in southern Karnataka with a history of more than 200 years.
  • The sector is providing employment to around 9 million people, mostly in the rural sector.
  • Amidst rapid growth, traditional sectors are slowly loosing their visibility and there is a need to showcase the uniqueness of traditional sectors like sericulture.
  • Places like Ramanagara, Siddalaghatta, Kolar lying within a radius of around 50 kms from Bengaluru are famous for sericulture activities.
  • In the absence of a professionally managed Seri Tourism initiative, there is an opportunity to start one such package in Bengaluru Mysuru corridor, to start with.
  • Target groups would include students, general public, tourists ( both domestic as well as foreign).
Establishment of Automatic Reeling Units

Establishment of Automatic Reeling Units

  • India currently imports around 3000 MT of international quality raw silk yarn (3A & above) from countries like China and Vietnam, mainly to meet the requirements of silk export and powerloom weaving sectors.
  • ARM units established so far by private entrepreneurs with subsidy support from Government are not able to meet this requirement of export and powerloom sector on a consistent basis for many reasons.
  • There is scope for establishment of large scale (500 kg raw silk production per day) state of the art ARM units with subsidy support from Government for production and supply of international quality raw silk to power loom weavers.
Cocoon & Raw Silk Trade

Cocoon & Raw Silk Trade

  • Most of the people involved in cocoon production and silk reeling are small and marginal.
  • Flow of credit from financial institutions to these people is also poor & many a times, market situations compel them to distress selling.
  • Establishment of Cocoon Market at potential places for cocoon transaction based on quality linking farmers and reelers; creating facility for cocoon drying and storage and for its subsequent supply to reelers can be a business option.
  • Similarly, creating facility for raw silk yarn pledging, linking sale of these products with potential end users later can be one more business option.
  • Daily transaction of around 40 MT of cocoons (worth Rs 2.00 crore) & its conversion to raw silk yarn in and around Ramanagaram alone gives an idea of underlying business prospect in these fields.
Silk Export

Silk Export

  • India is the biggest consumer of silk and has a prominent place in silk exports too.
  • Size of Indian silk sector is around Rs 20,000 crore, which opens up business opportunity in silk trade both in domestic as well as export sector.
  • Silk knits, Silk quilts can become niche products for exports.
  • Around 5000 MT of silk waste (cut cocoons, unreelable cocoons, reeling waste) gets generated in India and the installed capacity for conversion of this waste in to value added products is quite low, thus creating an opportunity in export of silk waste.
Silk Byproducts

Silk Byproducts

  • Sericin as a byproduct has an untapped potential for its use in cosmetic sector, which can be explored as a business proposition.
  • Similarly, opportunity lies in silkworm pupa processing, both as fish feed and pupa oil extraction.
Consultancy for Sericulture Projects

Consultancy for Sericulture Projects

  • With raw silk production in China coming down from around 1,50,000 MT to around 60,000 MT in recent years, there is an opportunity for India to consolidate its position in world sericulture.
  • There is scope for proposing and implementing big scale sericulture projects. The company can provide consultancy services for preparation and implementation of these projects.
  • The company can also explore the possibility of consultancy for sericulture projects in other countries.