NegOcc farmers urged to go into cocoon production

Tag : cocoon silk
WHILE sugarcane workers in Negros Occidental may dread the start ofthe off milling season, another sector is actually in need of moreworkers to boost the industry.

Thelma Watanabe, overall training coordinator of the Organizationfor Industrial, spiritual & Cultural Advancement (Oisca)-BagoTraining Center (OBTC), said there is a need to encourage morefarmers to go into cocoon production to meet the steadilyincreasing demand for silk not only locally but internationally aswell.

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"The fact that Negros silk is of very high quality makes thisindustry a very promising one for farmers not only in the island ofNegros but also in the neighboring provinces and the entirearchipelago," she added.

Watanabe and husband Shigemi, director of the OBTC, played host tothe first visit of Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura last Tuesdayto the silkworm product and silk reeling center, housed at thesprawling 26-hectare OBTC, which was constructed in 2004 andinaugurated March 2005 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Watanabe said that since the start of the Oisca sericulture projectin 1989 with approximately two hectares of mulberry plantation inthe town of Murcia, the Oisca Negros silk industry has come a longway.

"From a handful of 50 farmers cultivating an area of about 20hectares mulberry plantation, the number has increased to about 260farmers now actively engaged in quality cocoon production in anarea of not less than 170 hectares fully planted to mulberrytrees," she said.

The initial experimental cocoon production from 1993-1996 in Murciayielded very good results upon random testing at the Cocoon TestingCenter in Japan.

This paved the way for promoting the project to more farmers innearby municipalities and the eventual establishment of a silkreeling plant at the Oisca Compound in Bago City, which has acapacity to process a hundred tons of fresh cocoons per year.

Watanabe said Oisca silk has been enjoying excellent market value."Oisca's actual production now of three tons silk yarn fromapproximately 30 tons of fresh cocoons per year is not even enoughto supply the local market."

"Silk has always enjoyed excellent market value. Today, people hearof Philippine silk and the prospect of job generation it can bringto the Filipinos: from the cocoon-producing farmers to the silkreeling workers, the weavers, dyers, embroiderers, handy craftmakers, and the garments manufacturers," she stressed.

She attributed the success of the sericulture project to variouspersonalities and agencies that helped realized this industry.

"Oisca International has always been concerned of how to helpmarginal farmers in rural areas uplift their quality of life. Thus,the idea of starting an Oisca silkworm rearing project for silkyarn production in Negros Occidental was conceptualized," saidWatanabe.

The project's progress, she added, is partly due to the assistancegiven by government and non-government agencies concerned in theindustry. (Cheryl G. Cruz)


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(July 25, 2008 issue)
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