“Cocoon Auction Centers” soon in all districts: Pukhayi

NEPS KOHIMA, October 24 Parliamentary Secretary for Sericulture, Pukhayi said he wanted to open “Cocoon Auction Centers” in all the districts of Nagaland to facilitate selling and buying of local silk cocoons. Talking to NEPS here, the Parliamentary Secretary said his department was also preparing a DPR under the North East Region Textile Promotion Scheme (NERTPS) for the development of “Silk City” in Nagaland. “It (DPR) will be sent to Delhi soon,” he added. Stating that there was a scope for the growth of economy if they could go for large scale farming on sericulture production in the state, Pukhayi disclosed that the kind of silk available in Nagaland was called the “Golden Silk” which was considered one of the best in the world. And in fact many Asian countries are said to have expressed their interests in investing in the silk production sectors in Nagaland.The Parliamentary Secretary, who had already visited the Textile Headquarters at Bangalore some time back, said that “What others do not have are available in Nagaland and what we do not have are also available sometimes in other places.” But the kinds of plants for feeding silkworms are growing in the wilds of Nagaland, whereas others have been planting them with fertilizers, he added. “All these are God-gifted natural climatic condition for the sericulture in the State,” said the Parliamentary Secretary. “Such conditions are not there in many countries in the world not even in China, which is the largest silk producing country in the world.” Stating that sericulture had the potential for the economic growth in the state, Pukhayi said the farmers could even harvest 4 to 5 times over a season unlike rice harvesting which they could do once in a year. “In fact, those farmers doing rice cultivation could even do part time on pupa caring. Their jobs are only to pluck leaves and feed silkworms,” he explained.