Due to exorbitant heat and dry weather for the last two months, the silk-worm farming in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj district is facing a setback. The silkworm farmers who are locally known as 'Bosni' are incurring a huge loss due to such an uncanny, hot weather condition. The average day temperature in the districts is very high and often the highest day temperature in Rajshahi is reaching to over 42 degree Celsius. Such a high day temperature is destroying the delicate silk eggs and larvae which are failing to form silk cocoons and ultimately the silk-yarn.
According to sources from the Bholahat and Charghat silk-farming villages, being encouraged by the increased price of China silk yarn, thousands of Bosnis of the region who had abandoned silk worm rearing and farming, returned to their professions with the loan from Bangladesh Silk Board and some NGOs. But due to excessive heat, their efforts have been thwarted and they are now worried about repaying their loan.
Being frustrated consequently two times( usually a silk worm-rearing requires one month of cycle to produce silk cocoon), poor silkworm farmers have demanded intervention of Bangladesh Silk Board for special assistance. They have also asked the Silk Board officials to inspect whether there was any viral infection in silk-worm eggs in addition to extreme heat and dry weather.
Muntaz Ali, a silk farmer of Mungli village under Charghat upazila informed, he reared 100 silk worm eggs during last March but all those eggs were damaged.
Later on in Baisakh(April) he reared 75 eggs from where he was supposed to get 25 kilogramme of cocoon but after hatching of the eggs, the larvae did not form cocoons to produce yarns. He informed, due to excessive heat, larvae are sweating and failing to form cocoon. and dying ultimately.
Adhir Ranjan, another Bosni of the same village informed, in two cycles, he reared 50 eggs each but there was no formation of cocoon from the larvae.
Ashraful Islam of Chandnagar of same upazila informed, he reared 50 eggs hoping to get 15 kilogramme of cocoons but he got only a half kilogramme of cocoon. By selling the cocoon, he got only taka 200. He informed, he has purchased mulberry leaves worth Taka 1,000 to rear those silk worms. Bosnis of villages Halidagachhi, Mirganj and Raipur of the same upazila including Nurual Islam, Mannan, Baby, Shahida, Nazrul and Nizam depicted the same picture of silk farming.
Abdul Hamid, Manager of Bagha Mirganj Silk Nursery informed, the condition of silk worm rearers in the upazila was very miserable because they are incurring recurrent loss in silk worm cultivation. He said, the average supply of silk cocoons at this Nursery by the local 'Bosnis' is usually 1000 to 1200-kiolgramme daily but due to extreme heat waves, the supply of cocoons has been reduced to less than 300 kilogrammes a day.
He informed, long absence of rainfall and excessive heat was responsible for such a fall in production of silk cocoons in the district.
Meanwhile, the condition of silk farming is comparatively better in Bholahat of Chapainawabganj. The silk farmers opined, most of the silk farmers at Charghat upazila live at tin-shed houses. During noon, the tin shed houses turned too hot for the silk larvae to survive.
But, in Bholahat, most of the houses of silk-worm farmers are made of mud and straw, that is why, their houses are comparatively less hot and that is why there was less hazard for silk farmers in Bholahat.
Nurul Islam, Habibur Rahman and Hasan of Bholahat village informed, due to extreme heat, huge silk larvae are dying and there was no formation of cocoons from the larvae.