Cocoons being dried in the sun. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, July 6: The traditional calling of raising silkworms and spinning fabric from their cocoons is set to get a boost with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) taking up a scheme to improve production and marketing.

Nabard has roped in the National Institute of Small Industries Extension and Training, Hyderabad, to bring in a sea change in the production and manufacturing of silk.

According to a source in the industry, 75 per cent of the silk produced in the state come from Malda and nearly a million people are engaged in producing it. Malda produced nearly 1,200 tonnes of silk yarn but there were hardly any projects concerning the manufacture of finished products. This new scheme will definitely help the situation, the source added.

?Funds will not be a problem for this project, which aims at changing the method of silk production in the district. If the training programmes and production modules are followed as per the plans, along with the introduction of new spinning techniques, the industry here will undergo a sea change,? said Sukumar Chattopadhyay, the Nabard representative in the district.

The deputy director of the state sericulture department, Dwijen Mondol: ?We are seeing an upswing in silk production and the Nabard project has come in at the right time. It is good for the district as a large portion of the district?s economy depends on mango and silk.?