Jalna, Feb 18 (PTI) The authorities in Maharashtra's Jalna are eyeing to turn the district into a "silk capital" and have set the target of increasing its cultivation area by more than four times over the next five years.

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"Jalna is known as a steel capital, seed capital and will be known as silk capital," district collector Dr Vijay Rathod told PTI.

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At present, silk is being cultivated on 800 acres of land in the district, he said.

"Now, we have the target of taking the cultivation area to 5,000 acres in the next five years. The district administration has roped in various government agencies and launched schemes to promote sericulture among farmers," he said.

"Sericulture is a boon for farmers in the drought-prone Marathwada region. To promote sericulture in the district, the administration is holding training sessions and workshops for farmers and providing them the know-how," the collector added.

Chairman of Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Arjun Khotkar said that earlier farmers used to go to markets of Hyderabad and Ramnagara in Karnataka to sell silkworm cocoons.

"Now, they sell cocoons at the local market in Jalna and get a good price," he said.

District officer of sericulture department Ajay Mohite said that in 2020-21, a total of 429 metric tonnes of silkworm cocoons were sold at the market. From 2021 to February 2022, 485 metric tonnes have been t the market.

Traders from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal visit the market and purchase the cocoons. The cocoons are auctioned at prices in the range of Rs 500 to Rs 600 per kg, depending on the market situation, he said.

Silkworm cocoons are also sold to a private reeling unit, which is operational at Devmurti village in Jalna tehsil, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)