Embrace silk production, farmers told

THE COUNTRY will exploit its potentially favourable climate to cash in on sericulture.

Dr Monicah Waiganjo, a crop scientist and Kiambu County Executive Member for Agriculture, said in a recent meeting that sericulture has potential to trigger development in rural areas, thus, farmers should be encouraged to embrace it.

Kenya’s annual silk production is hardly above 2 metric tonnes of dried cocoons, yet the national potential is over 10,000 metric tonnes.

“Silk is four to 10 times more valuable than coffee, tea and vegetables when grown for export,” said Dr Lusike Wasilwa, a plant scientist at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro).

Dr Felister Makini, the Kalro deputy director-general, noted that earlier attempts to develop silk farming were not anchored on science and technology.

“Participating smallholder farmers could, therefore, not sustainably achieve the consistency in both quantity and quality fit for the international silk market.”

MULBERRY BENEFITS

Silk farming was first introduced in Kenya in 1904, but remained a business for only a few farmers until 1972 when the Kenyan government and Japan International Cooperation Agency entered into a joint project to popularise it.

“Currently, ongoing sericulture activities like mulberry tree establishment, rearing silkworms, processing and marketing cocoons are at very low levels. Returns have remained low and have not attracted significant investments,” said Dr Makini.

The government has, thus, pledged to pump in Sh700m in the National Sericulture Research Centre, which is under Kalro.

The centre located in Thika will  be required to produce its own silk worm eggs in the long term and also extend silk rearing skills and knowhow to farmers.

So far, there are 600 sericulture farmers in the country, with less than 50 rearing silkworms, the rest are mulberry bush growers.

Potential areas for silkworm farming include Western, Nyanza, Central, Eastern, Coast and parts of Rift Valley.

The government is also establishing silk cocoons buying centres in Makueni, Kitui, Bungoma,Taita Taveta, Homabay, Meru, Embu, Thika and Naivasha.

A kilo of dried cocoon goes for between Sh750 and Sh900.

“Mulberry leaves can be processed into mulberry tea, which is very healthy for cancer patients, its berries can also be used to make mulberry jam or juice,” Dr Wasilwa notes.