Silkworm warms farmers' pockets

Residents of Kisozi, in Gomba district, have embraced sericulture — the rearing of silkworms for silk. They believe it will transform their livelihood.

Recently, residents trained in various sericulture activities, including mulberry farming and silkworm rearing, to ensure production of high-quality silk products.

The Iran Agro-Industrial Group and the agriculture ministry recently launched the large scale production project in Kisozi, Gomba district with over three million mulberry trees and one million silkworms.

When the new economic activity was introduced, residents received it with uncertainty. However, when the economic benefits were explained, a number of residents have since embraced the activity/project.

Fatuma Nakitto, a resident, said farmers will earn higher returns from the worms than what they used to get from maize and beans.

She says at first, residents were scared of rearing silkworms, but today, more are taking up this activity.

Nakitto says farmers were exposed to the history of sericulture, technical skills in silkworm rearing, mulberry taxonomy, agronomy and plantation agriculture.

Agriculture minister Vincent Ssempijja says it is a good business that the Government intends to promote countrywide.

According to the agriculture ministry, there is hope that mulberry growing can turn Uganda into a world-class silk-producing nation.

Seyed Mohammad Ali Mousavi, the Iranian investor and head of the project, says sericulture will create household wealth and employment opportunities. This is the first large scale silk production project in East Africa, with over three million mulberry trees and one million silkworms being reared.

The project targets having over 1,000 hectares of mulberry and after that, the country can acquire silk machines and undertake silk production on its own.

Seyed says they need to have a minimum acreage, which can guarantee that the machines are not redundant even if the farmers face production challenges.

History

In China, legend has it that an ancient empress Xi LingShi discovered raw silk by accident. It is believed that when she was walking, she noticed the worms.

When she touched one, a strand of silk came off. As more came out and wrapped around her finger, she slowly felt a warm sensation. When the silk ran out, she saw a small cocoon.

She realised that the cocoon was the source of the silk. She taught this to the people.

Potential in sericulture

Christine Asaba, the principal entomologist at the agriculture ministry, says silkworms go through two phases of development. The five instar (feeding stage) and stage four — moulting (the development of an insect lava).

Asaba says the young worms should be fed tender mulberry leaves.

"The caterpillar eats for 28 days before spinning silk. It takes only three days to fully spin a cocoon and turn into a pupa," she explains.

"Our goal is to harvest the silk cocoon. Thereafter, we must dry them to avoid the development of pupa into an adult, which will break silk yarn," she explains.

Background

Sericulture is the art and science of rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk and its end product is silk.

Silk is referred to as the queen of fabrics and is well-known for its natural colour, purity and unusual lustre. It is a natural fabric, produced from the silkworm.

Clet Masiga, the principal investigator at the Tropical Institute of Development Innovations, says silk is the most expensive textile fibre. The unit price of silk is roughly twenty times the price of raw cotton.

China, which is the world's leading producer of silk has an annual turnover of about $2.5b (about sh9.3 trillion) from silk. Globally, the demand for silk outstrips its supply.

India, which is the second largest producer of raw silk, has its domestic demands of up to 35,000 metric tonnes, yet it is current indigenously produced raw silk is 28,000 metric tonnes.

Benefits to Ugandans

Masiga says by Uganda becoming a member of silk-producing countries, the country would benefit from the technical expertise that it may not have, including other benefits of marketing and networking through the International Sericultural Commission. Access to technologies would be easy.

Masiga added that with the technology and innovations in the sericulture field advancing every day, there is the need to network with other peers so that the country can benefit from such advancements. He also expressed gratitude to President Yoweri Museveni for funding commercialisation of sericulture innovations and technologies.

Masiga says for Uganda to reap big from silk and the international collaboration, it needs to subscribe to the International Sericultural Commission, a UN body charged with the responsibility of promoting the development of the silk sector. Subscription to UN bodies is limited to governments only.

Uganda can capitalise on the decline in production of silk by both China and India, yet the demand is still high. The gap presents Uganda an opportunity because of its arable land and favourable climate for growing mulberry, the only plant that silkworms (pictured) feed on.

Masiga says at a conservative market price of $50 (about sh180,000) per kilogramme, the return on investment will be huge. Uganda will also earn at least $93m (about sh348b) in revenue annually and the sector will employ over 50,000 people.

Status of sericulture

Mulberry cultivation (moriculture) and silkworm rearing is currently practised in the districts of Sheema, Bushenyi, Kanungu, Kiruhura, Kabarole, Mubende, Wakiso, Mpigi, Luwero and Kamuli.

There are about 300 farmers actively involved in sericulture.

The farmers in the active districts are organised into clusters and they have an umbrella body, the Uganda Silk Producers Association.

The enterprise is promoted by the agriculture ministry, through the department of entomology. The ministry has established a National Sericulture Centre in Kawanda, Wakiso district that is responsible for the provision of quality silkworm eggs to the farmers, mulberry cuttings, training, demonstrations and advisory services and promoting post-harvest cocoon production.

The centre has established sericulture infrastructure, such as silkworm egg production.

How to plant mulberry

Christine Asaba, the principal entomologist at the agriculture ministry, says all one needs is to plant mulberry at the beginning of a rainy season because the mulberry plant can withstand all weather conditions.

And, as it grows, one does not need to buy new mulberry trees because they are propagated using cuttings.

The Iran-Agro Industrial Group will give out cuttings and worms to farmers interested in sericulture.

A farmer needs 3,300 mulberry cuttings (four bags) per acre. They are planted with a spacing of 3ft by 3ft in the lines and 5ft between the lines. One bag of mulberry costs sh25,000. A farmer will need 25kg of NPK or DAT fertiliser, which costs sh75,000.

A farmer can harvest the mulberry from six months, but a well-established garden takes two years to mature. Since mulberry is a perennial plant, it can flourish for over 15 years.

However, the farmer needs to keep fertilising and adding manure on the plant, if they are to harvest more leaves to feed the silkworms.

When a farmer is ready to join the next stage — acquiring silkworms, a box of silkworms contains 20,000 worms and sh20,000.

When the farmer is ready to harvest the silk, they can sell fresh cocoon at sh6,000 or dry cocoon at 10,000 per kilogramme.

If a farmer joins the production process, a kilogramme of silk yarn costs between $20 (about sh74,000) and $35 (about sh131,000), depending on the quality.