A three-day hands-on training programme at the Central Silk Board's Regional Sericulture Production Research Centre in Bhimtal, Uttarakhand is putting scientific silk-farming skills directly into the hands of local cultivators — and Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh is calling it a milestone push for the sector.

Posting on 17 October 2026, Singh described the programme as a critical initiative connecting farmers to modern techniques, from silkworm rearing to preparing plant nurseries for oak tasar silk. 'रेशम कीटपालन से लेकर ओक तसर रेशम के लिए पौधों की नर्सरी तैयार करने तक का व्यावहारिक प्रशिक्षण' ['Practical training from silkworm rearing to preparing plant nurseries for oak tasar silk'], he wrote, underscoring the programme's breadth.

Bhimtal's oak tasar belt and why it matters

Bhimtal sits in the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand — terrain that is naturally suited to oak tasar silk, a variety of vanya (wild) silk produced by the Antheraea proylei silkworm, which feeds on oak leaves. Unlike conventional mulberry silk, oak tasar thrives in forested, hilly ecosystems, making it a livelihood option for communities far outside the traditional sericulture belts of Karnataka, West Bengal, and Assam.

The Central Silk Board, established under the Central Silk Board Act of 1948 and operating under the Ministry of Textiles, runs the Bhimtal centre as part of its nationwide network for sericulture research and extension. The Himalayan region has been a particular focus of recent ministry strategy, as India works to reduce its dependence on imported raw silk — a structural vulnerability the sector has long carried.

Silk Samagra's training pipeline

Farmer training events like this one sit squarely within the architecture of Silk Samagra, the central sector scheme launched in 2017 to modernise sericulture through technology transfer, quality improvement, and rural income support. The scheme has channelled funds into demonstration units, seed organisations, and exactly the kind of hands-on, centre-based training Singh highlighted.

The logic is straightforward: productivity in Indian sericulture has historically lagged global benchmarks because smallholder farmers lack access to improved rearing methods. Getting them into a lab-and-field setting — learning nursery preparation, disease management, and post-cocoon handling — compresses years of trial-and-error into days of structured instruction. Skill. Speed. Scale.

Rural incomes woven into the textile agenda

The Ministry of Textiles has consistently framed sericulture as a rural employment anchor, particularly for women and tribal communities in states like Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Odisha where oak and eri silk traditions run deep. Singh's post reinforces that the ministry sees scientific training — not just subsidies — as the lever that converts smallholder potential into sustained production gains.

India is already the world's second-largest producer of raw silk. Closing the yield gap with China, however, demands exactly the kind of grassroots technical upgrading that a Bhimtal training camp represents — one farm, one rearing cycle, one nursery plot at a time.