From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Nov 10: Announcing a distress relief of Rs 30 for every kg of cocoon sold for a price less than Rs 160 during the auction, Karnataka’s Labour and Sericulture Minister B N Bache Gowda blamed north India’s silk traders lobby for crash in the prices of cocoons in local markets.

The Centre was deaf towards the demands of the silk growers of the State, he said accusing the silk traders lobby in the north India of forcing the Centre to reduce import duty on silk from 31 per cent to 5per cent in the last year’s budget.

Traders were the only consumers of raw silk and the Congress-led UPA regime succumbed to the pressured of traders, he said.

Bache Gowda said the Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who wrote to him, has also defended the north India silk traders’ demand to reduce import duty on silk.

He said the State Government has released Rs 5 crore to provide distress relief of Rs 30 a kg of cocoons sold for a price less than Rs 160 in the market.

The distress relief announced by the State Government would arrest fall in the prices of cocoons in the Channapatna-Ramanagaram region, which is known as the silk belt of Karnataka.

The distress relief would burden the State exchequer Rs 120 crore this year, he said.

Sericulture farmers staged a protest on Bangalore-Mysore road last Sunday and blocked the movement of vehicles for several hours.

The cocoon prices had dipped from Rs 150-170 per kg to Rs 30-40 per kg on last Sunday. Cocoon prices which were Rs 350 per kg last year have nosedived to Rs 120 a kg on Thursday, the Minister said.

The country’s raw silk requirement is estimated to be around 28,000 tonnes while the production is 18,000 tonnes. The balance is made good by imports from China.

Karnataka accounts for almost half the country’s silk production. An estimated 8.15 lakh people depend on sericulture and allied activities for their livelihood in the State. Mulberry cultivation is spread across 62,697 hectares.