सिंहदरबार संवाददाता
Chitwan. Since there are no farmers who cultivate silk commercially, the safflower plants produced here have become animal feed. The safflower, which is used to feed silkworms, has now become a nutritious food for livestock.
According to Pawan Kumar Yadav, technician of the Commercial Insect Development Farm in Bhandara, four boxes of silk flowers have been brought to the office. Apart from them, farmers who cultivate silk elsewhere in the private sector have migrated. The safflower plants produced here are used by farmers in this area to feed cattle and goats.
The office has stated that it will produce more than three lakh safflower plants in the current fiscal year. The farm is going to produce these plants in an area of four hectares. According to Yadav, the plants are sold in Ashar. Local levels and cooperatives in Bagmati Province purchase many seedlings and distribute them on a grant basis. These seedlings are distributed to farmers for animal feed.
Although kimbu was initially used for sericulture, now that sericulture has ceased, livestock farmers have started using it as grass. The produced seedlings are sent to Chitwan, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Sindhuli, Gorkha, Dhading and other districts.
It is sold at the rate of five per seedling. He said, ‘After farmers stopped sericulture, livestock farmers are now taking kimbu seedlings for grass.’ The office is now wearing a variety of kimbu in the ear. It contains 21 percent protein and 11.5 percent carbohydrates. Due to which silkworms can easily digest it, it is the choice of silkworms. He said that it is also a suitable grass for livestock.
Farmers here have stopped cultivating sericulture because it is difficult and they do not get a fair price for it. The government had fixed the price of cocoons at 375 per kilogram. Farmers have stopped cultivating it because they do not have the cost at this price and they do not even find customers to buy it. Although the government used to provide subsidies for sericulture under various headings, recently the farmers have started migrating after the subsidy was removed.
According to the office’s information officer Kamal Nayan Pant, although Madi was initially developed as a pocket area for sericulture, the farmers there have now abandoned this business. Earlier, sericulture was also practiced in districts including Makwanpur.
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