Rainfall, rising mercury to hit sericulture

Rainfall and higher temperatures will have a significant impact on the state’s sericulture sector in the coming years, says a study by the Karnataka State Sericulture Research and Development Institute (KSSRDI).

Zones that are prone to environmental conditions might face problems, says the study that tried to understand the impact of climate change on silk production and assess adaptation/mitigation technologies.

Karnataka has 10 agro climatic regions. However, 95% of the cocoons produced in the state come from three zones: Eastern Dry Zone (61.84%), Southern Dry Zone (25.68%) and Central Dry Zone (7.68%).

Over the years, changes in technology, improvement in the breed (race) of silkworms, rearing technology, new mulberry varieties and other factors have helped in the production.

Scientists looked at 30 years of cocoon production and mulberry cultivation and found that while the production in the three zones has largely stabilised, the remaining seven zones were seeing a slow and steady decline. “The seven zones are very much affected by environmental conditions,” the study said.

Even within the three zones, high volatility was seen in the Southern Dry Zone comprising Mysuru, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar and Mandya. For instance, data shows mulberry cultivation here dropped from 71,970 hectares in 1991 to 19,747 hectares in 2020.

Cocoon production, which had increased to 67,077 tonnes, fell to less than 10,000 tonnes in the following years. It managed to reach 26,608 tonnes last year.

Rajendra Mundur, a retired senior scientist of the institute who worked as a consultant for the study, noted that since sericulture is a human-oriented biological activity, interventions at multiple stages have cushioned the climate impact.

“Technology has helped farmers to take mitigation measures to avoid stress. Even then, zonal variations show that climate change poses significant challenges,” he said.

Though the seven zones contribute less to the total production, the negative regression values in the seven zones indicate the difficulties faced by sericulture.

“There is no question that rising temperatures and rainfall will have an impact on sericulture. However, I would reiterate that technology will continue to play a significant role. Unlike the agriculture sector, technology’s role is more pronounced here. We have now done historical study. The next step is to assess the impact on the sector by changes in environment in the future,” he said.

Sericulturists usually invest in the sector for long term, with the study stating that 47% of the farmers were practising it for 10 years. This gives them time to learn and adopt mitigation measures, the study added.