Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Experts from six countries, including Uganda, Vietnam, Thailand, Romania, Japan and Turkey, have joined a pioneering initiative by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) to prepare a comprehensive policy roadmap for reviving the silk industry of Jammu and Kashmir.
The first-of-its-kind brainstorming session was organised by the College of Temperate Sericulture on the sidelines of the J&K Agriculture Science Congress 2026 in Srinagar. Deliberations centred on the main challenges confronting the sector, including how to raise productivity and silk quality, strengthen market access and improve the returns that sericulture farmers earn from their work.
The session brought international experts together with representatives of the Central Silk Board, the J&K Sericulture Development Department and other institutions, with the aim of exploring strategies that can strengthen the region’s silk value chain from the mulberry field to the final market.
Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganie, Vice-Chancellor of SKUAST-K, was the chief guest. Prof. Afifa Shaheen Kamili, former Director Extension at the university, chaired the session, and Prof. M.R. Mir, Associate Dean of the College of Temperate Sericulture, served as co-chairperson. Addressing participants, Prof. Ganie said the university had begun the exercise to bring national and international expertise under one roof and to frame a policy roadmap for the silk sector. He called for coordinated efforts, scientific research and the adoption of modern technologies to raise farmers’ incomes, generate rural employment and encourage silk-based entrepreneurship.
Technical deliberations covered the full silk value chain, including mulberry cultivation, silkworm seed quality, modern rearing practices, cocoon productivity, silk quality, market linkages and value addition. Experts stressed the need to strengthen extension services so that scientific knowledge actually reaches rearers, to blend traditional knowledge with modern technology, and to open up more opportunities for young entrepreneurs in sericulture.
Sericulture has long been a source of supplementary income for rural families in Jammu and Kashmir, and the region has a recognised tradition of producing silk. Yet the sector has faced pressure from quality concerns, limited access to reliable seed, price uncertainty and competition from other producing regions. A roadmap shaped with inputs from countries that have built strong silk economies is expected to bring fresh perspectives on how those obstacles can be overcome.
The recommendations emerging from the session will be consolidated into a policy framework and submitted to the Jammu and Kashmir Government. The proposed framework will focus on production and marketing constraints, on strengthening the silk value chain and on improving the livelihoods of sericulture farmers, giving policymakers a research-backed basis for action in the years ahead.
