India’s Central Silk Board (CSB) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a convergence model for implementation of agro-forestry in the silk sector under the ongoing Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF) Scheme. India will be fully self-sufficient in silk production in the next two years, textiles minister Smriti Irani said on the occasion.
She said raw silk production in the country has increased 35 per cent in the last six years. More than 90 lakh people have got employment in raw silk production.
Addressing the ‘National level programme on convergence of agro-sericulture and eradication of thigh reeling’, where the MoU was signed, Irani said 8,000 women thigh reelers were identified for providing Buniyaad machines and 5,000 women have already been supported under Phase 1 of the Silk Samagra scheme.
For the remaining 3,000 thigh reelers, funds have been provided to eradicate unhygienic and obsolete thigh reeling practice, she was quoted as saying in an official press release.
Buniyaad teeling machines for tussar silk yarn were also distributed to some of the beneficiaries on the occasion.
