Over the last five years, the busy Bengaluru-Mysuru highway has been blocked on multiple occasions by sericulture farmers protesting against the collapse in the price of cocoons.
Though the price fluctuates owing to various reasons, the State’s sericulture farmers attribute one cause to be the Centre’s policy of decreasing the duty on imported silk.
Karnataka is the largest producer of silk in India, accounting for more than a third of the country’s production.
The import duty on silk was pegged at a high of 30% more than five years ago. But, its reduction to 10% has brought down the cost of Chinese silk which has, in turn, affected the demand and marketability of indigenous silk