பட்டுக்கூடுகள் விலை வீழ்ச்சியை தடுக்க, ஊரக தொழில் துறை
மானியக்கோரிக்கையில் தமிழக அரசு எந்த அறிவிப்பும் வெளியிடாததால்,
உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் வேதனை அடைந்துள்ளனர்.
இந்தியாவில், வெண்பட்டுக்கூடுகள் உற்பத்தியில் தமிழகம் முன்னிலையில் உள்ளது. 10 ஆயிரத்துக்கும் அதிகமான உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் பட்டு உற்பத்தியில் ஈடுபட்டு வருகின்றனர்.
தமிழகத்தில், வெண்பட்டுக்கூடுகள் உற்பத்தியில் உடுமலை முதலிடத்தில் உள்ளது. இப்பகுதியில், இரண்டு ஆயிரத்து 500 ஏக்கருக்கும் அதிகமாக மல்பெரி செடி பயிரிடப்பட்டு, நாள்தோறும் இரண்டு டன் வரை வெண்
பட்டுக்கூடுகள் உற்பத்தி செய்யப்படுகின்றன.
படுவேகமாக வளர்ச்சியடைந்து வந்த இத்தொழிலுக்கு முட்டுக்கட்டையாக வெண்பட்டுக்கூடுகள் விலை வீழ்ச்சி அமைந்தது. கடந்த 2011 மார்ச்சில் சீனாவில் இருந்து இறக்குமதி செய்யப்படும் கச்சா பட்டுக்கான இறக்குமதி வரி என பல்வேறு கட்டுப்பாடுகளை மத்திய அரசு தளர்த்தியது. இதனால், பட்டுக்
கூடுகளின் விலை கிலோ 400 ரூபாயிலிருந்து 200 ரூபாயாக குறைந்தது. உற்பத்தி செலவு பல மடங்கு அதிகரித்த நிலையில், பட்டுக்கூடு விலை சரிந்தது கடும் பாதிப்பை உற்பத்தியாளர்களுக்கு ஏற்படுத்தியது.
இறக்குமதிக்கான கட்டுப்பாடுகளை மீண்டும் அதிகரித்து உள்நாட்டில் உற்பத்தியாகும் பட்டுக் கூடுகளுக்கு நல்ல விலை கிடைக்கச் செய்ய வேண்டும் என உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் மத்திய, மாநில அரசுகளுக்கு தொடர்ந்து வலியுறுத்தி வந்தனர்.
கடந்த சட்டசபை தேர்தலின் போது வெண்பட்டுக்கூடு உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் அனைத்து கட்சி வேட்பாளர்களிடமும் இக்கோரிக்கையை வலியுறுத்தினர். உடுமலை பகுதியை சேர்ந்த உற்பத்தி யாளர்கள் குழுவாக ஒருங்கிணைந்து, ஊரக தொழில் துறை அமைச்சர் சம்பத்திடம் கோரிக்கை மனு அளித்தனர்.
"நிலையற்ற பட்டுக்கூடுகள் விலையால் உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் மாற்றுத்தொழிலுக்கு செல்ல வேண்டிய நிலை ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. வெண்பட்டுக்கூடுகள் உற்பத்தியை அதிகரிக்க, மத்திய, மாநில அரசுகள் வழங்கிய பல கோடி ரூபாய் மானியம் வீணாகும் நிலை ஏற்படும்.
"விலை வீழ்ச்சியை தடுக்க மாநில அரசு ஆதார விலை நிர்ணயிக்க வேண்டும். ஆதார விலைக்கு கீழ் கொள்முதல் மையங்களில் விலை குறையும்போது அரசு உற்பத்தியாளர்களுக்கு ஆதார விலையை ஈடுகட்டும் அளவிற்கு ஊக்கத்தொகை வழங்க வேண்டும். உடுமலை பகுதியில் அரசு கொள்முதல் மையம் அமைக்க வேண்டும். பட்டுக்கூடுகள் விலை சரிவை தடுத்து பல ஆயிரம் உற்பத்தியாளர்களுக்கு உதவ வேண்டும்,' என, மனுவில் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது.
ஆனால், சட்டசபை மானியக்கோரிக்கையில் ஊரக தொழில் துறை அமைச்சர் சம்பத் வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கையில், பட்டுக்கூடுகள் விலை வீழ்ச்சியை தடுக்க எவ்வித அறிவிப்பும் வெளியிடப்படவில்லை.
மாறாக, கடந்த தி.மு.க., ஆட்சிக்காலத்தில் இருந்து வெளிவரும் "பட்டு மலர்' மாதாந்திர செய்தி மடல் அச்சிட்டு வழங்கப்படும்; தமிழகத்திலுள்ள வரப்புகளில் மல் பெரி மரம் நடவுக்கு மானியம் உள்ளிட்ட அறிவிப்பு களே வெளியாகியுள்ளது.இதனால், உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் வேதனை அடைந்துள்ளனர்.
நன்றி: http://www.dinamalar.com/News_Detail.asp?Id=461157
பட்டுக்கூடு: கிலோவுக்கு ரூ.30 ஊக்கத்தொகை
பெங்களூர், நவ.10: பட்டுக்கூடு கிலோவுக்கு ரூ.30 இடைக்கால ஊக்கத்தொகை அளிக்க மாநில அரசு தீர்மானித்துள்ளது.இது குறித்து பெங்களூரில் வியாழக்கிழமை பட்டு மற்றும் தொழிலாளர் நலத்துறை அமைச்சர் பி.என்.பச்சேகெüடா, செய்தியாளர்களிடம் கூறியது: இந்தியாவில் மொத்த பட்டு உற்பத்தியில் 50 சதவீதம் கர்நாடகத்தில் உற்பத்தியாகிறது. நேரடியாக மற்றும் மறைமுகமாக சுமார் 12 லட்சம் பேர் பட்டுத்தொழிலில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ளனர். கர்நாடகத்தில் 66 பட்டுக்கூடு சந்தைகள் உள்ளன. இதில் ராமநகரம், சிட்லகட்டா சந்தைகள் உள்ளிட்ட 11 சந்தைகள் பெரியது. கடந்த மார்ச் மாதம் முதல் பட்டுக்கூடுவிலை உள்நாட்டுச் சந்தையில் வீழ்ச்சியடைந்து வருகிறது. சீனப்பட்டு இறக்குமதி அதிகரித்ததே இதற்கு காரணம். பட்டு இறக்குமதி வரியை 30 சதவீதத்தில் இருந்து 5 சதவீதமாக குறைத்ததால், உள்நாட்டுச் சந்தையில் பட்டுக்கூடு விலை வீழ்ச்சியடைந்தது. கடந்த நவ.6-ம் தேதியன்று பட்டுக்கூடு விலை கிலோவுக்கு ரூ.70 அளவுக்கு குறைந்ததால் ஆத்திரமடைந்த விவசாயிகள் சாலைமறியல் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டனர். உள்நாட்டு பட்டு விவசாயிகளின் நலன்கருதி சீனப்பட்டுக்கு விதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ள இறக்குமதிவரியை பழையபடி 30 சதவீதமாக உயர்த்த வேண்டும், ரூ.200 கோடி சுழல் நிதி அமையுங்கள், குறைந்தப்பட்ச ஆதரவு விலையை நிர்ணயுங்கள் என்ற 3 அம்ச கோரிக்கையை பிரதமர் மன்மோகன்சிங், மத்திய நிதியமைச்சர் பிரணாப்முகர்ஜியிடம் அளித்தோம். ஆனால், எங்கள் கோரிக்கை மத்திய அரசின் செவிகளில் விழவில்லை. இதனால் பட்டு விவசாயிகள் கடும் இன்னலுக்கு உள்ளாகியுள்ளனர். இதனை கருத்தில் கொண்டு பட்டுக்கூடு கிலோ விலை ரூ.160க்குள் இருந்தால், மாநில அரசு ஊக்கத்தொகையாக கிலோவுக்கு ரூ.30 வழங்க திட்டமிட்டுள்ளது. இதற்காக ரூ.5 கோடி ஒதுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இத்திட்டம் உடனடியாக அமலுக்கு வருகிறது. பட்டு விவசாயிகளின் வங்கிக்கணக்கில் இத்தொகை வரவுவைக்கப்படும். 10 நாள்களுக்கு ஒருமுறை ஊக்கத்தொகை பட்டுவாடா செய்யப்படும். ஊக்கத்தொகையில் விவசாயிகளுக்கு திருப்தி ஏற்படாவிட்டால், மறுபடியும் திருத்தியமைக்கப்படும்.இந்தியாவில், வெண்பட்டுக்கூடுகள் உற்பத்தியில் தமிழகம் முன்னிலையில் உள்ளது. 10 ஆயிரத்துக்கும் அதிகமான உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் பட்டு உற்பத்தியில் ஈடுபட்டு வருகின்றனர்.
தமிழகத்தில், வெண்பட்டுக்கூடுகள் உற்பத்தியில் உடுமலை முதலிடத்தில் உள்ளது. இப்பகுதியில், இரண்டு ஆயிரத்து 500 ஏக்கருக்கும் அதிகமாக மல்பெரி செடி பயிரிடப்பட்டு, நாள்தோறும் இரண்டு டன் வரை வெண்
பட்டுக்கூடுகள் உற்பத்தி செய்யப்படுகின்றன.
படுவேகமாக வளர்ச்சியடைந்து வந்த இத்தொழிலுக்கு முட்டுக்கட்டையாக வெண்பட்டுக்கூடுகள் விலை வீழ்ச்சி அமைந்தது. கடந்த 2011 மார்ச்சில் சீனாவில் இருந்து இறக்குமதி செய்யப்படும் கச்சா பட்டுக்கான இறக்குமதி வரி என பல்வேறு கட்டுப்பாடுகளை மத்திய அரசு தளர்த்தியது. இதனால், பட்டுக்
கூடுகளின் விலை கிலோ 400 ரூபாயிலிருந்து 200 ரூபாயாக குறைந்தது. உற்பத்தி செலவு பல மடங்கு அதிகரித்த நிலையில், பட்டுக்கூடு விலை சரிந்தது கடும் பாதிப்பை உற்பத்தியாளர்களுக்கு ஏற்படுத்தியது.
இறக்குமதிக்கான கட்டுப்பாடுகளை மீண்டும் அதிகரித்து உள்நாட்டில் உற்பத்தியாகும் பட்டுக் கூடுகளுக்கு நல்ல விலை கிடைக்கச் செய்ய வேண்டும் என உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் மத்திய, மாநில அரசுகளுக்கு தொடர்ந்து வலியுறுத்தி வந்தனர்.
கடந்த சட்டசபை தேர்தலின் போது வெண்பட்டுக்கூடு உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் அனைத்து கட்சி வேட்பாளர்களிடமும் இக்கோரிக்கையை வலியுறுத்தினர். உடுமலை பகுதியை சேர்ந்த உற்பத்தி யாளர்கள் குழுவாக ஒருங்கிணைந்து, ஊரக தொழில் துறை அமைச்சர் சம்பத்திடம் கோரிக்கை மனு அளித்தனர்.
"நிலையற்ற பட்டுக்கூடுகள் விலையால் உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் மாற்றுத்தொழிலுக்கு செல்ல வேண்டிய நிலை ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது. வெண்பட்டுக்கூடுகள் உற்பத்தியை அதிகரிக்க, மத்திய, மாநில அரசுகள் வழங்கிய பல கோடி ரூபாய் மானியம் வீணாகும் நிலை ஏற்படும்.
"விலை வீழ்ச்சியை தடுக்க மாநில அரசு ஆதார விலை நிர்ணயிக்க வேண்டும். ஆதார விலைக்கு கீழ் கொள்முதல் மையங்களில் விலை குறையும்போது அரசு உற்பத்தியாளர்களுக்கு ஆதார விலையை ஈடுகட்டும் அளவிற்கு ஊக்கத்தொகை வழங்க வேண்டும். உடுமலை பகுதியில் அரசு கொள்முதல் மையம் அமைக்க வேண்டும். பட்டுக்கூடுகள் விலை சரிவை தடுத்து பல ஆயிரம் உற்பத்தியாளர்களுக்கு உதவ வேண்டும்,' என, மனுவில் தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது.
ஆனால், சட்டசபை மானியக்கோரிக்கையில் ஊரக தொழில் துறை அமைச்சர் சம்பத் வெளியிட்ட அறிக்கையில், பட்டுக்கூடுகள் விலை வீழ்ச்சியை தடுக்க எவ்வித அறிவிப்பும் வெளியிடப்படவில்லை.
மாறாக, கடந்த தி.மு.க., ஆட்சிக்காலத்தில் இருந்து வெளிவரும் "பட்டு மலர்' மாதாந்திர செய்தி மடல் அச்சிட்டு வழங்கப்படும்; தமிழகத்திலுள்ள வரப்புகளில் மல் பெரி மரம் நடவுக்கு மானியம் உள்ளிட்ட அறிவிப்பு களே வெளியாகியுள்ளது.இதனால், உற்பத்தியாளர்கள் வேதனை அடைந்துள்ளனர்.
நன்றி: http://www.dinamalar.com/News_Detail.asp?Id=461157
பட்டுக்கூடு: கிலோவுக்கு ரூ.30 ஊக்கத்தொகை
நன்றி:தினமணி
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1529739.ece
Sericulturist, wife commit suicide
MYSORE: A sericulturist and his wife committed suicide at their village in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district on Friday night, triggering speculation that the tragic turn of events was a fallout of the collapse in the cocoon price in the market.
While Swami Gowda (35) was found hanging at the farm, his wife Indramma (28) of Valageredoddi hanged herself at their residence. Local people said that Swami Gowda had invested a lot of money and had pledged his wife's jewellery to fund farming activity. It was stated that Swami Gowda was anticipating Rs. 350 a kg of cocoon which, however, collapsed and the market price was pegged around Rs.120 a kg.
This is reckoned to be the first suicide of a sericulturist following the sudden crash in the prices of cocoon. Swami and Indramma are survived by three children. The Halguru police have registered a case and are investigating.
நன்றி:இந்து
AWARENESS:A candlelight vigil and a protest march were held in Bangalore on Saturday against the government's neoliberal policies.
BANGALORE: An irate IT worker fobs off a private bank agent who can't stop showering him with low-interest loans and credit cards. Cut to a village, where farmers have no access to credit or government support, a widow mourns for her farmer husband who killed himself after his crop failed and debtors demanded their pound of flesh. Meanwhile, TV channels are busy giving a spot report on the latest India-Australia ODI.
These were scenes from a street play, performed outside the Town Hall, by IT workers from the IT Employees Centre (ITEC). Later, the IT employees, green NGOs, women's rights groups and the Indian Institute of Science's student group Concern, participated in a candlelight vigil and a protest march. They were demonstrating against farmer suicides and the government apathy to the agrarian crisis, and neoliberal policies that ignore the poor.
So why is a bunch of IT professionals interested in farmer suicides? It all started with Concern screening of Nero's Guests, a documentary on the agrarian distress, and a talk by journalist P. Sainath. “Days after the event, we read about a sericulture farmer couple committing suicide. We found out that the crisis they faced was directly related to a budget announcement, the same that offered corporate subsidies worth Rs. 80,000 crore,” explains Naveen Mudunuru of ITEC.
Subhankar Chakraborty of Concern said: “The motive is to increase social awareness and build public opinion on these important issues.”
Bore Gowda, silk farmer and father of Swami and Vasantha (who committed suicide), spoke to the audience on issues he faces.
Sericulturists and reelers staging a protest in
KOLAR: Sericulturists, reelers and others connected with the sericulture sector staged a protest in front of the office of Kolar MP and Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa here on Thursday.
The police stopped the protesters, who gathered under the banner of the all-India Anti Duty-free Silk Import Struggle Committee and Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), from entering into the office building.
The protesters came in a procession and raised slogans against the policies of the Union Government. KPRS district unit president P.R. Suryanarayan addressed the protesters.
Silk farmers stop train to protest Government's import policy of Silk
Mandya, Karnataka, Mar 14 : Angry sericulture farmers, hit hard by falling cocoon prices, stopped the Mysore-Bangalore Tippu express train for some time today and shouted slogans against the centre's proposal to bring down the import duty on raw silk
from 33.66 per cent to five per cent.
The agitators demanding a complete halt to silk imports from China
The agitators demanding a complete halt to silk imports from China
and fixation of higher prices for their cocoon at Rs 350 to 400 per kg
also demanded Rs 10 lakh as compensation to farmers who had recently committed suicide following the price crash.
Following the announcement by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee,
Following the announcement by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee,
the cocoon prices fell to Rs 150 from an average price of Rs 350 a kg.
.
Even after the train passed the railway station, the protesters squatted at the railway station.Later, railway police arrested about 150 protesters.
FEBRUARY 26 is a day that silk farmers across southern Karnataka are unlikely to forget soon. On that day, traders and reelers of silk in Karnataka and the adjoining States of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh restricted their purchases as rumours spread that there would be a 25 per cent cut in the customs duty on imported raw silk.
Srinivas, a silk farmer from Acchalu village of Ramanagara taluk in Ramanagara district, near Bangalore, said: “The price of one kilogram of silk cocoon had touched Rs.380, but it nosedived to Rs.150 in one single day. Many of us farmers did not know what to do with the cocoons we had come to sell in the market.”
Two days later, the Union Budget announced that the import duty on silk was to come down from 30 per cent to 5 per cent. On March 5, the media reported that a farmer couple in a village in Mandya district committed suicide, apparently because their harvested cocoons would not fetch the high prices that had prevailed earlier. Swami Gowda and his wife Vasantha left behind three children, aged between three and six, in the care of Swami's infirm 65-year-old father. If, as media reports point out, the only reason for the suicide was the steep crash in the price of silk cocoons, this would be the first reported incident of a silk farmer committing suicide in Karnataka.
According to figures available from the Government Cocoon Market in Ramanagara, over the past two years the price of silk cocoons in the Indian market has increased correspondingly with the price of Chinese silk in the international market. (China produces more than 80 per cent of the world's silk and has a decisive influence on global silk prices.) In April 2009, the average rate of the cross-breed variety of silk cocoons was Rs.156.50; in April 2010, this increased to Rs.195. Thereafter, it grew at a dizzying 10-15 per cent every month to reach an average of Rs.311 in February 2011. The crash reduced the average price to Rs.184 in May.
Other factors could also have contributed to the fall in prices now. Every year the price comes down a little during the monsoons because the quality of the cocoons falls. Moreover, there had been a marginal increase in their quantity this year as farmers stepped up production between December 2010 and February 2011 (and harvested the cocoons between March and May).
Cocoon Markets The Government Cocoon Market in Ramanagara is one of the two biggest markets for trade in silk cocoons in Karnataka. There are between 25 and 35 small markets in the State. The Ramanagara market, along with the Sidlaghatta market in Chikkaballapur district adjoining Bangalore, set the price of silk for the rest of the State. In the Ramanagara market, for instance, more than 1,000 tonnes of silk cocoons were traded in April 2011.
When Frontline visited the Ramanagara market in early June, 31,000 kg of cocoons were traded there on a single day. The price was in the range of Rs.140 to Rs.180 a kg for cross-breed silk cocoons.
A few thousand people throng the market in the early part of the day. Heaps of light yellow cocoons, which look like little wads of coloured cotton, fill the space around. Farmers bring in their cocoons from as near as the next village or as far away as Bellary, a journey of several hours. Each farmer brings in 50-150 kg of cocoons and stacks them up in and around the market according to their quality.
Around 700 silk reelers, who buy the cocoons for processing, participate in the auction every day. Auction agents belonging to the Department of Sericulture of the Karnataka government rush from pile to pile and yell out the price of each. The mood is frenzied and the pace is quick – not more than two minutes is spent on a pile. Once the pile is sold and weighed, reelers take possession of the cocoons.
Farmers told Frontline that the production cost of 50-80 kg of cocoons (one single harvest) ranged between Rs.6,000 and Rs.8,000, excluding the cost of land and water. If a farmer has his own plot and source of water, there are no additional costs. But the majority of farmers, like Swami Gowda, have taken farmlands on lease (The rates for leasing a hectare of land vary between Rs.25,000 and Rs.38,000 per annum).
Mallesh, a farmer from D. Hosur village in Maddur taluk of Ramanagara district, said he spent Rs.6,500 on fertilizers, labour, transport, silk larvae, and so on. There are, on an average, six harvests (one harvest takes between 25 and 35 days) in a year. Two of these usually fail as silk larvae are vulnerable to infections.
G.K. Karanth, professor of sociology at the Institute for Social and Economic Change in Bangalore, has studied sericulture for the past few decades. He said: “If you look at the production cycle, the farmers are gambling more on the market than on the weather.” The cocoons cannot be hoarded for more than a couple of days and so they have to be sold at the prevailing market rate once they are ripe.
Interestingly, silk farming is a highly suitable occupation for small farmers since it can be done on plots as small as five guntas (2,500 square metres). All members of the family participate in the work and additional labour is hired only for five to seven days during the harvest period.
The second link in the production chain is the silk reeler, whose life is equally affected by the vagaries of the market. Once the reeler purchases the silk cocoons (spending anywhere between Rs.10,000 and Rs.50,000 for 70 to 300 kg), he takes it to his reeling unit. In Ramanagara, there are around 500 such small units with several small and large reels. The reeling unit is usually an extension of the reeler's house, so the entire family takes part in the work. The price paid for the cocoons, labourers' wages and the money spent for the sale of the raw silk yarn make up the reeler's expenses.
Syed Feroze is a reeler who employs in his unit 20 labourers on a daily wage ranging between Rs.120 and Rs.150 per head. Skilled labourers can make 1 kg of raw silk yarn from seven to 9 kg of cocoons. When this correspondent visited Ramanagara, the selling price of 1 kg of raw silk hovered between Rs.1,700 and Rs.2,000. In Feroze's unit, 30 to 40 kg of raw silk yarn is produced every day apart from the shedding waste, which is also traded. This raw silk is sold at the Silk Exchange in Bangalore.
After the crash in silk prices, the profit margins for both reelers and farmers are barely above the production cost. The volumes traded by individual farmers and reelers may be small and insignificant in macro-economical terms, but this is life for them.
It is estimated that more than eight lakh people are directly or indirectly dependent on sericulture in Karnataka. According to the figures for 2009 provided by the State Department of Sericulture, 1,40,959 mulberry silk farmers and 7,195 silk reelers were active in the State (mainly in the southern part, around Bangalore) and produced 7,238 tonnes of raw mulberry silk out of a total of 15,610 tonnes produced in India. Karnataka produces close to 50 per cent of India's mulberry-based silk. The State's tryst with silk farming dates back to the 18th century when Tipu Sultan introduced sericulture in the region.
SAMPATH KUMAR G P
Silk farmers stagea protest against the cut in the import duty on raw silk and to demand a minimum support price, in Bangalore on June 14.
India's total silk production (mulberry-based as well as non-mulberry-based) stands at 19,600 tonnes, while the demand stands at 28,000 tonnes. India meets most of the shortfall by importing nearly 5,000 tonnes of silk from China.
Chinese raw silk, which was available at Rs.1,750 a kg in August 2010, rose to an unbelievable Rs.3,300 a kg in December 2010. This increased the price of domestic raw silk as well, a development that affected the large weaving community and textile manufacturers. The import duty on silk fabric was much lower, at 10 per cent. This meant that raw silk was being imported at a higher cost than finished silk fabric. This anomaly in the import rates made the ‘lobby' of weavers and textile manufacturers pressure the government to do away with the import duty on raw silk. It is interesting to note that the price of imported Chinese silk even after the cut in import duty remains higher than the price of locally produced silk, partly because its quality is better. The average price of imported Chinese silk in April 2011 after the cut in import duty was Rs. 2,450 a kg.
When this demand of the textile manufacturing ‘lobby' was satisfied, it immediately led to a crisis for the many thousands of silk farmers and reelers in Karnataka. It is tempting to see this crisis in clear ‘class' terms as local activists of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, an organisation affiliated to the All India Kisan Sabha, do – farmers and reelers, who use labour-intensive methods of production, versus the big textile manufacturers, who have an industrialised set-up. But the picture is more nuanced than this because the livelihoods of thousands of handloom and powerloom weavers across the country, many of whom are daily wage labourers, have also to be taken into account. More than two lakh handloom and powerloom weavers in Varanasi shut shop for a day on November 28, 2010, to bolster the weavers' lobby's demand for a reduction in import duty.
Sericulture, which was once touted as a rural activity that could actually draw those who had migrated to big cities such as Bangalore back to agriculture, is losing its sheen. Academic studies exist to show how young men returned to rural areas to practise sericulture. When this correspondent visited Ramanagara, farmers did not demonstrate acute despondency, but they had serious grievances. Several of them told this correspondent that the State government had not heeded their demand to fix a minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.
The farmers do not want to shift to an alternative crop. First, as C. Yeshwanth, a silk farmer from Thorashetthally village of Maddur taluk, says, the topography of the region is favourable for mulberry cultivation. Secondly, the landholding pattern (small and fragmented) is suitable only for silk farming. Thirdly, alternative crops such as sugarcane and paddy require several times more water, which is not available in the area.
Ironically, the government not only refuses to fix an MSP but also disallows farmers from trading in cocoons privately as they did before the passage of the Karnataka Silkworm, Seed, Cocoon Distribution and Control Amendment Act in 1979. A government-regulated market seems redundant when it does not protect the farmers from the vagaries of the international market. A second irony, according to Karanth, is that the import duty was reduced at a time when the State was ready to harness the rich dividends from its own moves, such as Seri-2000, a World Bank-funded project aimed at improving efficiency in sericulture.
A few thousand silk farmers participated in a protest rally held in Bangalore on June 14 to demand an MSP. But the government's response has been tardy. The Karnataka Silk Marketing Board (KSMB), which liaisons with the market on behalf of the State's sericulturists, is on the verge of being wound up. Its Managing Director, Paramesh Pandey, did not respond to the phone calls from this correspondent.
The KSMB has released Rs.17 crore for the purchase of silk cocoons from the market which, according to silk farmers, is a pittance. The many organisations – the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation, the Karnataka Department of Sericulture as well as the Central Silk Board – also raise the question whether there needs to be a single apex body to countervail market fluctuations through price support.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka is, predictably, trying to milk the crisis for all its political worth. It is blaming the Centre for ignoring the State's interests. Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and Minister for Labour and Sericulture B.N. Bache Gowda have promised to lead a delegation to New Delhi to demand the withdrawal of the cut in customs duty.
While all this has been going on, the price of silk cocoons has stabilised, though it remains low. On June 14, the average price was Rs.158 for a kg of cross-breed cocoons. One possible way of insulating farmers from sudden fluctuations is to offer an MSP if prices fall below a fixed level. Until then, farmers like Mallesh will remain vulnerable and the silk route they chose as a livelihood option will not ensure a smooth ride.
கடந்த 2011 மார்ச் மாதம் முதல் பட்டுக்கூடுவிலை உள்நாட்டுச் சந்தையில் வீழ்ச்சியடைந்து வருகிறதுEven after the train passed the railway station, the protesters squatted at the railway station.Later, railway police arrested about 150 protesters.
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The 25 per cent cut in the import duty on raw silk has had a detrimental effect on the lives of sericulturists in Karnataka.
In the Government Cocoon Market in Ramanagara, after the price of cocoons fell in May.
FEBRUARY 26 is a day that silk farmers across southern Karnataka are unlikely to forget soon. On that day, traders and reelers of silk in Karnataka and the adjoining States of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh restricted their purchases as rumours spread that there would be a 25 per cent cut in the customs duty on imported raw silk.
Srinivas, a silk farmer from Acchalu village of Ramanagara taluk in Ramanagara district, near Bangalore, said: “The price of one kilogram of silk cocoon had touched Rs.380, but it nosedived to Rs.150 in one single day. Many of us farmers did not know what to do with the cocoons we had come to sell in the market.”
Two days later, the Union Budget announced that the import duty on silk was to come down from 30 per cent to 5 per cent. On March 5, the media reported that a farmer couple in a village in Mandya district committed suicide, apparently because their harvested cocoons would not fetch the high prices that had prevailed earlier. Swami Gowda and his wife Vasantha left behind three children, aged between three and six, in the care of Swami's infirm 65-year-old father. If, as media reports point out, the only reason for the suicide was the steep crash in the price of silk cocoons, this would be the first reported incident of a silk farmer committing suicide in Karnataka.
According to figures available from the Government Cocoon Market in Ramanagara, over the past two years the price of silk cocoons in the Indian market has increased correspondingly with the price of Chinese silk in the international market. (China produces more than 80 per cent of the world's silk and has a decisive influence on global silk prices.) In April 2009, the average rate of the cross-breed variety of silk cocoons was Rs.156.50; in April 2010, this increased to Rs.195. Thereafter, it grew at a dizzying 10-15 per cent every month to reach an average of Rs.311 in February 2011. The crash reduced the average price to Rs.184 in May.
Other factors could also have contributed to the fall in prices now. Every year the price comes down a little during the monsoons because the quality of the cocoons falls. Moreover, there had been a marginal increase in their quantity this year as farmers stepped up production between December 2010 and February 2011 (and harvested the cocoons between March and May).
Cocoon Markets The Government Cocoon Market in Ramanagara is one of the two biggest markets for trade in silk cocoons in Karnataka. There are between 25 and 35 small markets in the State. The Ramanagara market, along with the Sidlaghatta market in Chikkaballapur district adjoining Bangalore, set the price of silk for the rest of the State. In the Ramanagara market, for instance, more than 1,000 tonnes of silk cocoons were traded in April 2011.
When Frontline visited the Ramanagara market in early June, 31,000 kg of cocoons were traded there on a single day. The price was in the range of Rs.140 to Rs.180 a kg for cross-breed silk cocoons.
A few thousand people throng the market in the early part of the day. Heaps of light yellow cocoons, which look like little wads of coloured cotton, fill the space around. Farmers bring in their cocoons from as near as the next village or as far away as Bellary, a journey of several hours. Each farmer brings in 50-150 kg of cocoons and stacks them up in and around the market according to their quality.
Around 700 silk reelers, who buy the cocoons for processing, participate in the auction every day. Auction agents belonging to the Department of Sericulture of the Karnataka government rush from pile to pile and yell out the price of each. The mood is frenzied and the pace is quick – not more than two minutes is spent on a pile. Once the pile is sold and weighed, reelers take possession of the cocoons.
Farmers told Frontline that the production cost of 50-80 kg of cocoons (one single harvest) ranged between Rs.6,000 and Rs.8,000, excluding the cost of land and water. If a farmer has his own plot and source of water, there are no additional costs. But the majority of farmers, like Swami Gowda, have taken farmlands on lease (The rates for leasing a hectare of land vary between Rs.25,000 and Rs.38,000 per annum).
Mallesh, a farmer from D. Hosur village in Maddur taluk of Ramanagara district, said he spent Rs.6,500 on fertilizers, labour, transport, silk larvae, and so on. There are, on an average, six harvests (one harvest takes between 25 and 35 days) in a year. Two of these usually fail as silk larvae are vulnerable to infections.
G.K. Karanth, professor of sociology at the Institute for Social and Economic Change in Bangalore, has studied sericulture for the past few decades. He said: “If you look at the production cycle, the farmers are gambling more on the market than on the weather.” The cocoons cannot be hoarded for more than a couple of days and so they have to be sold at the prevailing market rate once they are ripe.
Interestingly, silk farming is a highly suitable occupation for small farmers since it can be done on plots as small as five guntas (2,500 square metres). All members of the family participate in the work and additional labour is hired only for five to seven days during the harvest period.
The second link in the production chain is the silk reeler, whose life is equally affected by the vagaries of the market. Once the reeler purchases the silk cocoons (spending anywhere between Rs.10,000 and Rs.50,000 for 70 to 300 kg), he takes it to his reeling unit. In Ramanagara, there are around 500 such small units with several small and large reels. The reeling unit is usually an extension of the reeler's house, so the entire family takes part in the work. The price paid for the cocoons, labourers' wages and the money spent for the sale of the raw silk yarn make up the reeler's expenses.
Syed Feroze is a reeler who employs in his unit 20 labourers on a daily wage ranging between Rs.120 and Rs.150 per head. Skilled labourers can make 1 kg of raw silk yarn from seven to 9 kg of cocoons. When this correspondent visited Ramanagara, the selling price of 1 kg of raw silk hovered between Rs.1,700 and Rs.2,000. In Feroze's unit, 30 to 40 kg of raw silk yarn is produced every day apart from the shedding waste, which is also traded. This raw silk is sold at the Silk Exchange in Bangalore.
After the crash in silk prices, the profit margins for both reelers and farmers are barely above the production cost. The volumes traded by individual farmers and reelers may be small and insignificant in macro-economical terms, but this is life for them.
It is estimated that more than eight lakh people are directly or indirectly dependent on sericulture in Karnataka. According to the figures for 2009 provided by the State Department of Sericulture, 1,40,959 mulberry silk farmers and 7,195 silk reelers were active in the State (mainly in the southern part, around Bangalore) and produced 7,238 tonnes of raw mulberry silk out of a total of 15,610 tonnes produced in India. Karnataka produces close to 50 per cent of India's mulberry-based silk. The State's tryst with silk farming dates back to the 18th century when Tipu Sultan introduced sericulture in the region.
Silk farmers stagea protest against the cut in the import duty on raw silk and to demand a minimum support price, in Bangalore on June 14.
India's total silk production (mulberry-based as well as non-mulberry-based) stands at 19,600 tonnes, while the demand stands at 28,000 tonnes. India meets most of the shortfall by importing nearly 5,000 tonnes of silk from China.
Chinese raw silk, which was available at Rs.1,750 a kg in August 2010, rose to an unbelievable Rs.3,300 a kg in December 2010. This increased the price of domestic raw silk as well, a development that affected the large weaving community and textile manufacturers. The import duty on silk fabric was much lower, at 10 per cent. This meant that raw silk was being imported at a higher cost than finished silk fabric. This anomaly in the import rates made the ‘lobby' of weavers and textile manufacturers pressure the government to do away with the import duty on raw silk. It is interesting to note that the price of imported Chinese silk even after the cut in import duty remains higher than the price of locally produced silk, partly because its quality is better. The average price of imported Chinese silk in April 2011 after the cut in import duty was Rs. 2,450 a kg.
When this demand of the textile manufacturing ‘lobby' was satisfied, it immediately led to a crisis for the many thousands of silk farmers and reelers in Karnataka. It is tempting to see this crisis in clear ‘class' terms as local activists of the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, an organisation affiliated to the All India Kisan Sabha, do – farmers and reelers, who use labour-intensive methods of production, versus the big textile manufacturers, who have an industrialised set-up. But the picture is more nuanced than this because the livelihoods of thousands of handloom and powerloom weavers across the country, many of whom are daily wage labourers, have also to be taken into account. More than two lakh handloom and powerloom weavers in Varanasi shut shop for a day on November 28, 2010, to bolster the weavers' lobby's demand for a reduction in import duty.
Sericulture, which was once touted as a rural activity that could actually draw those who had migrated to big cities such as Bangalore back to agriculture, is losing its sheen. Academic studies exist to show how young men returned to rural areas to practise sericulture. When this correspondent visited Ramanagara, farmers did not demonstrate acute despondency, but they had serious grievances. Several of them told this correspondent that the State government had not heeded their demand to fix a minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.
The farmers do not want to shift to an alternative crop. First, as C. Yeshwanth, a silk farmer from Thorashetthally village of Maddur taluk, says, the topography of the region is favourable for mulberry cultivation. Secondly, the landholding pattern (small and fragmented) is suitable only for silk farming. Thirdly, alternative crops such as sugarcane and paddy require several times more water, which is not available in the area.
Ironically, the government not only refuses to fix an MSP but also disallows farmers from trading in cocoons privately as they did before the passage of the Karnataka Silkworm, Seed, Cocoon Distribution and Control Amendment Act in 1979. A government-regulated market seems redundant when it does not protect the farmers from the vagaries of the international market. A second irony, according to Karanth, is that the import duty was reduced at a time when the State was ready to harness the rich dividends from its own moves, such as Seri-2000, a World Bank-funded project aimed at improving efficiency in sericulture.
A few thousand silk farmers participated in a protest rally held in Bangalore on June 14 to demand an MSP. But the government's response has been tardy. The Karnataka Silk Marketing Board (KSMB), which liaisons with the market on behalf of the State's sericulturists, is on the verge of being wound up. Its Managing Director, Paramesh Pandey, did not respond to the phone calls from this correspondent.
The KSMB has released Rs.17 crore for the purchase of silk cocoons from the market which, according to silk farmers, is a pittance. The many organisations – the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation, the Karnataka Department of Sericulture as well as the Central Silk Board – also raise the question whether there needs to be a single apex body to countervail market fluctuations through price support.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka is, predictably, trying to milk the crisis for all its political worth. It is blaming the Centre for ignoring the State's interests. Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and Minister for Labour and Sericulture B.N. Bache Gowda have promised to lead a delegation to New Delhi to demand the withdrawal of the cut in customs duty.
While all this has been going on, the price of silk cocoons has stabilised, though it remains low. On June 14, the average price was Rs.158 for a kg of cross-breed cocoons. One possible way of insulating farmers from sudden fluctuations is to offer an MSP if prices fall below a fixed level. Until then, farmers like Mallesh will remain vulnerable and the silk route they chose as a livelihood option will not ensure a smooth ride.
Ramanagaram-COCOONS PRICE-Feb=2012-Feb=2011.
-CSR-Feb=2012-Qty-226.ton-180>290-Avg-236- -Feb=2011-Qty-143.ton-240>450-Avg-369-. -CB -Feb=2012-Qty-782.ton-140>236-Avg-195- -Feb=2011-Qty-794.ton-175>366-Avg-306-.
Coimbatore-COCOONS PRICE-Feb=2012-Feb=2011. -
CB -Feb=2012-Qty-6.ton-147>180-Avg-159- -Feb=2011-Qty-6.ton-174>299-Avg-259.
| State | Market | Variety | February-2012 | February- 2011 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty. (M.T) | Min. | Max. | Avg. | Qty. (M.T) | Min. | Max. | Avg. | |||
| Karnataka | Ramanagaram | Bivoltine Hybrids | 226.19 | 180 | 290 | 236 | 143.09 | 240 | 450 | 369 |
| Imp. Cross Breed | 782.17 | 140 | 236 | 195 | 794.39 | 175 | 366 | 306 | ||
| Siddalghatta | Imp. Cross Breed | 1076.31 | 140 | 252 | 209 | 860.39 | 120 | 380 | 308 | |
| Kolar | Imp. Cross Breed | 149.15 | 130 | 235 | 193 | 154.88 | 190 | 356 | 303 | |
| Tamil nadu | Dharmapuri | Bivoltine Hybrids | 10.80 | 166 | 230 | 223 | 9.00 | 280 | 388 | 365 |
| Imp. Cross Breed | 31.80 | 150 | 195 | 184 | 44.10 | 215 | 322 | 308 | ||
| Coimbatore | Imp. Cross Breed | 6.30 | 147 | 180 | 159 | 6.70 | 174 | 299 | 259 | |
| Andhra Pradesh | Hindupur | Imp. Cross Breed | 78.04 | 120 | 238 | 186 | 119.99 | 142 | 435 | 285 |
| Dharmavaram | Imp. Cross Breed | 19.51 | 75 | 225 | 190 | 24.72 | 141 | 352 | 300 | |
