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| News Detail |
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| FAO provides much needed boost to Cambodian silk sector |
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Cambodia, 17 Sep 2009 -- Working with the Office of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today launched a $ 475 000 project to help develop the Cambodian silk sector. The two-year project will assist the production of disease-free silkworm eggs, provide good quality silkworm and mulberry, strengthen government staff technical capacity, and train and disseminate new technology to farmers.
Under the project, a Silkworm Egg Production Centre capable of producing 5,000 cases of disease-free silkworm per year will be established. Seven ‘demonstration farms’ that will show and promote new techniques in silkworm rearing will be set up in Kampong Speu, Takeo, Kampot, Kampong Cham, Kratie, Pursat, Siem Reap, and Banteay Meanchey. A small facility will be set up that will demonstrate the efficiency of modern cocoon reeling technique. Training will be provided to staff of MAFF’s General Directorate of Agriculture in order to improve productivity and quality of cocoons and silk yarn. A silk development programme will be formulated for expansion phases.
“Silk is very important for Cambodian rural economy, and poverty reduction, because it generates higher value-added than general crops such as rice,” says Mr Ajay Markanday, FAO Representative. “It is also labour intensive, so will create much needed rural employment particularly for women and at the same time generate regular cash income for rural households.” Mr. Markanday added that in the long run, if the silk industry is fully developed to meet domestic demand it will generate employment for some 25,000 additional people and result in import savings of about $10 million year.
It is estimated that the current national demand for silk yarn is about 400 tons per year, less than five tons of which is met by local production. The gap is being met by imported silk yarn from China and Viet Nam.
The Government acknowledges the important role the silk sector plays in supporting its policy to diversify agriculture which is currently dominated by rice, as well as the silk sector’s potential to rationalize land use and support the Government social land concession programme.
In addition to the direct benefits, there will be spill-over benefits on weavers and other players in the silk value-chain. The whole sector would be placed on a solid footing, with minimum risk of potential shortage of imported silk yarn in the future.
For more information, contact:
Maria Cecilia Dy
Information & Communication Officer
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Tel: (855) (0) 92 339 587
E-mail: cecilia.dy@fao.org
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