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Silk farmers burn mulberry crops as cocoon prices crash |
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BENGALURU: It's crash and burn for silk farmers in Karnataka. After a spate of agitations that fell on deaf ears, the farmers are now hoping that the smell of burnt mulberry crops will attract the state government towards their plight.
The crashing price of silk has left many a farmer in distress across the traditional silk-rearing belt of Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagaram and Mandya districts. With protests and talks failing to stir the government into action, farmers in these districts resorted to burning their crops to make their point. In Varuna, home constituency of chief minister Siddaramaiah, the sericulturists have declared crop-burning protests on August 1.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, silk farmer and Mysuru taluk panchayat member C Nagappa said that cocoon prices crashed due to the Centre's decision to cut import duties on raw silk from 30 per cent to 5 per cent.This flooded the market with silk from China.
"Our cocoons that used to fetch Rs 500 per kg are now being sold for just Rs 80Rs100 per kg. We have no option but to stop producing silk and take up other crops for a living," he said.
For silk farmer, Chikkabudhi, it is a question of survival in his village of Chinnamballi in Nanjangud taluk. He said many in his village have left cocoon-rearing and moved to the cities to work as daily wage labourers.
In Mandya, MC Channegowda, a sericulture farmer from Maraliga village of Maddur taluk, mowed down mulberry plants grown on an acre of land using an earthmover machine. "I've been getting just Rs 100-Rs 150 for a kilo of cocoon. Why should I continue sericulture?" he asked.
According to Mandya district sericulture deputy director Basavanna, six silk farmers have committed suicide in the district. "If the rise in import duties is curbed and some policy changes are effected, we can see a change. There are strong reasons to suspect cocoon traders' lobby behind steep fall in prices," he added. In neighbouring Ramanagaram district, over 35 farmers have committed suicide, of which nearly 15 were sericulturists, say district officials.
The story resonates even in Kolar and Chikkaballapur. The silk farmers in these two districts have already begun destroying mulberry crops grown in their own fields.
Mulberry cocoon prices have crashed from a high of Rs 450 - Rs 500 per kg in February last year to around Rs 100-Rs 170 per kg. Statistics provided by the Sericulturists Forum of Kolar state over 1.5 lakh families are directly or indirectly dependent on sericulture. The sericulture department, on its part says it is doing all it can to tackle the issue, from market intervention by the Karnataka Silk Marketing Board Limited to increasing the incentives to farmers. Officials also say low prices are the norm during Ramzan as rain affects quality. But as the crisis simmers and far mers bur n crops, silk farming continues to lose its sheen.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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