Worms cry for employment

Accra, Nov 9, GNA - A silk producing factory at East Legon, Accra needs to grow more worms that would produce cocoons which are reeled into silk yarns to produce silk fabrics.

The eggs of the silk worms are imported from India and when hatched are fed on mulberry leaves to produce cocoons and with that the industry could employ more workers, especially women.

Mr. Paul Kwesi Ntaanu, Founder and Technical Director, Sericulture Promotion and Development Association, Ghana said the silk industry was 'even more profitable than cocoa'

The mulberry tree on which leaves the worms are fed is a drought resistant plant which grows well in all geographic areas of the country. Mr Ntaanu, who is a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Consultant on Sericulture said, 'we want more farmers to grow the mulberry plant and rear the worms.'

He said the Cocoon and Silk Processing factory was established in 2004 by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture with FAO assistance to produce the silk but since the eggs of the silkworm are imported, the farmers needed credit and assistance from the government to import the eggs and to put up structures that could hatch the worms.

The factory, he said, could produce 50 kilograms of cocoon per shift of eight hours adding that if turned into yarns, it could produce 25 square meters of silk fabric with a square meter which sells at 50 dollars.

Mr. Ntaanu said the silk project had received little publicity since the introduction, yet the industry could provide employment to many which could also boost the kente industry. Currently, the silk which was very expensive had to be imported, he added.

He said a farmer could plant 4,000 mulberry trees just as cassava sticks are planted on an acre of land and 93at any given time the leaves of the 4,000 trees can feed 80,000 worms which can produce 100 kilos per a season for at least six to eight seasons in a year.=94 Mr. Ntaanu said there were 1,500 farmers producing the worms but their production was not sufficient to keep the factory running and asked for more people to go into the venture.

The eggs of the silk worms which are imported from India sells and depending on the expertise of the farmer, a box of 20 eggs could produce 20,000 worms which cost 10 dollars.