Friday, July 25, 2008 NegOcc farmers urged to go into cocoon production
WHILE sugarcane workers in Negros Occidental may dread the start of the off milling season, another sector is actually in need of more workers to boost the industry.
Thelma Watanabe, overall training coordinator of the Organization for Industrial, spiritual & Cultural Advancement (Oisca)-Bago Training Center (OBTC), said there is a need to encourage more farmers to go into cocoon production to meet the steadily increasing demand for silk not only locally but internationally as well.
"The fact that Negros silk is of very high quality makes this industry a very promising one for farmers not only in the island of Negros but also in the neighboring provinces and the entire archipelago," she added.
Watanabe and husband Shigemi, director of the OBTC, played host to the first visit of Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura last Tuesday to the silkworm product and silk reeling center, housed at the sprawling 26-hectare OBTC, which was constructed in 2004 and inaugurated March 2005 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Watanabe said that since the start of the Oisca sericulture project in 1989 with approximately two hectares of mulberry plantation in the town of Murcia, the Oisca Negros silk industry has come a long way.
"From a handful of 50 farmers cultivating an area of about 20 hectares mulberry plantation, the number has increased to about 260 farmers now actively engaged in quality cocoon production in an area of not less than 170 hectares fully planted to mulberry trees," she said.
The initial experimental cocoon production from 1993-1996 in Murcia yielded very good results upon random testing at the Cocoon Testing Center in Japan.
This paved the way for promoting the project to more farmers in nearby municipalities and the eventual establishment of a silk reeling plant at the Oisca Compound in Bago City, which has a capacity 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 from approximately 30 tons of fresh cocoons per year is not even enough to supply the local market."
"Silk has always enjoyed excellent market value. Today, people hear of Philippine silk and the prospect of job generation it can bring to the Filipinos: from the cocoon-producing farmers to the silk reeling workers, the weavers, dyers, embroiderers, handy craft makers, and the garments manufacturers," she stressed.
She attributed the success of the sericulture project to various personalities and agencies that helped realized this industry.
"Oisca International has always been concerned of how to help marginal farmers in rural areas uplift their quality of life. Thus, the idea of starting an Oisca silkworm rearing project for silk yarn production in Negros Occidental was conceptualized," said Watanabe.
The project's progress, she added, is partly due to the assistance given by government and non-government agencies concerned in the industry. (Cheryl G. Cruz)
