Government offers loans to silkworm farmers
Government offers loans to silkworm farmers
JAKARTA (JP): The government is providing revolving funds to
support silk development, which will help conserve forests and
eradicate poverty, Minister of Forestry Djamaludin
Suryohadikusumo said yesterday.
"We provide the funds as credits through the state-owned Bank
Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Pemerintah Daerah for cooperatives to
buy cocoons produced by farmers," the minister told the press
shortly after installing new executives of the Association of
Natural Silk at his office.
Harnanto Harno Martosiswojo of the state company Perum
Perhutani is the newly elected chairman of the association and
Nursidin of the Ministry of Forestry is secretary-general.
Djamaludin said that state-owned companies will also provide
up to 5 percent of their net profits for assisting small-and-
medium enterprises operating in silk production.
Furthermore, he added, the World Bank also provides capital
assistance for small enterprises dealing in natural silk
development as Indonesia is included in the 100 countries whose
per capita income is under US$4,000.
Indonesia's current per capita income is about $920.
Djamaludin said that the country has tropical rain forests
suitable for silkworms.
Cocoon
He explained that some parts of West Java, West Sumatra and
South Sulawesi, for example, have conducive climate and
environment for mulberry farming, the tree whose leaves silkworms
eat.
"By providing the credits, we expect that silk processors can
procure cocoon farmers' products at a harvest period," said
Djamaludin.
He acknowledged that besides a lack of capital, the natural
silk industry also encounters a problem of poor quality silk due
to the absence of good mulberry seedlings and a lack of experts
in cocoons.
The ministry's director general of forest preservation,
Hendarsun Suryasanusiputra, said that the association will employ
a cocoon expert from Rumania to teach Indonesian farmers about
highly developed techniques of cocoon production.
"Rumanian experts are highly qualified but their fees are
lower than those of Koreans and Chinese," said Hendarsun, the
outgoing chairman of the association.
Hendarsun also said that the country's production of natural
silk threads reached only 180 tons per annum, while its demand is
about 500 tons.
"So we import some 320 tons of silk thread every year from
China, India, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Brazil," said Hendarsun.
He said that for every four boxes or 100 kilograms of silkworm
eggs, one hectare of mulberry trees is needed, and from this 900
hundred kilograms of cocoons would be produced.(kod)