BIA development hits silk production

Mysore: Devanahalli and Chikballapur, which produced 50 per cent of the state's silk last season, have registered a fall in production as thousands of acres have been acquired for the development of the Bangalore International Airport (BIA).
The boom in real estate, industrialisation and urbanisation in the international airport area has the farmers, weavers and sericulture scientists worried.
Kolar and Chikballapur districts produce high quality cocoon and silk due to the ideal climatic conditions and soil fertility present in the area.
Though Karnataka still produces 50 per cent of the nation’s silk, there is growing gap between demand and production.
According to Central Sericulture Research Training Institute (CSRTI), India
produced 16,000 metric tonnes of silk against a demand of 26,000 metric tonnes. The scarcity of silk has resulted in dependence on China.
In a bid to compensate the loss that has occurred from the development of Devanahalli and Chikballapur, the CSRTI has planned to extend sericulture to North Karnataka.
18/06/09 ExpressBuzz

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Categories: Airports Jun 2009