Several farmers from an Iloilo town have tried their hands at mulberry and silk cocoon production in response to the high demand for silk in the country.
Ariel Lastica, executive director of the Champion Farmers Program (CFP) of the municipality of Lambunao, said they are supported by the Organization for Industrial, Spiritual, Cultural Advancement (OISCA), which is a Japanese nongovernment organization (NGO) and the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA).
OISCA has a training center and Filature Plant in Bago City and supplies silk to local weavers in the region, in Mindanao and Manila.
Lastica said OISCA director Shimege Watanabe lobbied back in Japan that Lambunao town is included in the project after seeing the interest of the CFP. The target was supposed to be in Luzon and Mindanao areas only.
In June 2019, a memorandum of agreement was signed between the local government of Lambunao, PhilFIDA, OISCA and the CFP for the establishment of mulberry production sites for the rearing of silkworms and production of silk (sericulture).
“It is the only project in the Visayas that was included in the silk production project of OISCA,” he said.
In August 2019, five CFP candidates joined the orientation trip to the Bago City training center where they were showed the whole process from the mulberry plantation up to the value-adding of silk-related products.
The mulberry production site started in 2019 in barangays Cayan Oeste, Daanbanwa, Legayada, San Gregorio and Panuran.
Some 14,000 cuttings were made available by the PhilFIDA and OISCA. OISCA also provided portions of the materials for the establishment of a rearing house for the silkworm.
“The silkworm production could not move on if there is no mulberry (leaves) that is enough to feed the silkworm,” he said.
In January this year, the five pilot farmers had hands-on training on silk cocoon production.
They started with just one-fourth box of silkworms provided by OISCA. After 25 days, on Feb 17, 2020, they harvested seven kilograms of Class A cocoon, he added.
The silk cocoons will be processed in Bago City where the OISCA Filature Plant is based.
Meanwhile, PhilFIDA OIC regional director for Western Visayas Evelyn Cagasan said the area identified by Lambunao is suitable for mulberry plants.
She added that if the mulberry leaves that will be fed to the silkworms are of good quality, then they will also produce good quality cocoon.
“The mulberry plant is very important in producing cocoon,” she said.
She said the silk is combined with abaca, cotton, and piña to make the cloth shiny.
In Western Visayas, the biggest production of mulberry and silk cocoon can be found in Bago City. There is also a plantation in Ibajay, Aklan.
The annual cocoon production of the region is 3, 106.86 kilograms while the silk yarn is 88.76 kilograms. The annual demand of the weaving sector is 150 kilograms of yarn.
Cocoons can be classified as A, B, and C or even AA depending on size and shapes.
She added that about 1.2 to 1.5 kilometers of silk can be extracted from one cocoon regardless of size. Silk that is extracted from eight cocoons can produce one yarn.
She added that while the moriculture (cultivation of mulberry plants) and sericulture industry is “still at its infancy stage” in Western Visayas, the industry is almost complete because there are eggs that are produced as OISCA has a silkworm egg production.
There is also a facility that produces textile and pure silk cloth.
Meanwhile, Lastica said their next production cycle will be in July this year as they still have to wait for the mulberry plants to fully bloom.
It will be another cycle (silkworm rearing) but they will be adding training on nursery establishment and management both for the silkworm and the mulberry production.
“It will be a long process of mentoring and evaluation from the side of OISCA Bago City,” he said.
Lastica said the moriculture and sericulture have potentials in Lambunao because the temperature is suitable for the mulberry trees.
“Mulberry and silkworm production is a family-owned business. It can be a hobby for the family. It creates a stream of income for the family and it is not labor-intensive,” he said.
He added that for every rearing house that can grow two boxes of silkworm, a family can earn PHP20,000 in just three months. In a year they can earn PHP80,000.
Antonio Castronuevo, technical assistance head of the PhilFIDA in Western Visayas, said mulberry trees thrive in areas with temperature ranging from 28 to 32 degrees.
It is best planted during the onset of the rainy season and will be ready for feeding after eight months.
The 4,300 cutting of mulberry can be planted in one-third of a hectare plantation and can supply three to four persons. Each person can have one box of silkworm eggs, equivalent to 20,000 silkworms.
The rearing house for the silkworm has a measurement of five meters by 12 meters and must be protected from rats, birds, and other pests.
Lastica said they intend to mix the silkworms after they are removed from the cocoon into their vermi-facility so they can decompose thoroughly.
The CFP that spearheads the pilot implementation of the project is not only focused on the production aspect. It is into value formation and mind-setting to be able to achieve its goal.
“It is a values formation base enrollment mentoring program where we introduce the value chain approach from mind-setting to production to management of the farm and to until marketing. If the farm is fully developed, then we will do the financing,” he said.
Currently, they are also into organic vegetable production or naturally grown vegetables.
The CFP has 146 farmer candidates, a minimal number when compared with the 19,000 registered farmers in Lambunao.
However, Lastica said they hoped to trim the number down to 30 to 50 candidates to serve as model farmers and mentors to their peers.PNA/Perla Lena
Photo from Champion Farmers’ Facebook page
