New silkworm variety discovered

YOGYAKARTA: A university researcher announced Tuesday the new discovery of three silkmoths with a much higher value and superior quality than the existing variety.

Jesmandt Situmorang of Gadjah Mada University said during a seminar that the three wild silkmoths, known more as harmful pests of fruits including kedondong, jambu mete (cashew), avocados and soursacks can produce more resilient silk fibers.

Situmorang said they are 20 times the value of ordinary silkworms. "These valuable silkworms are under attack from South Sulawesi residents, who find them a nuisance," he said.

He said the wild silkworms, classified as Crucula trifenestrata, Attacua atlas and Antheraea sp, are found on certain islands of Indonesia and survive mainly in a tropical climate.

President of the International Society for Wild Silkmoths Hiromu Akai said that Situmorang's findings feature superior characteristics including the silk threads' natural golden color, odorlessness and more porousness and the ability to wrinkle less than ordinary silk.

The university's entomologist Hari Purwanto said at the university's Japanese Studies Center that the wild silkmoths can only be raised in a tropical country like Indonesia as they are accustomed to eating the country's local fruits.

Ordinary silkmoths are usually fed on mulberry leaves.

The wife of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, GKR Hemas voiced her concerns about a possible business monopoly on the new silkmoths, a move she believes would jeopardize the local people's traditional silk production business.

Hemas, also coordinator of the Social Welfare Coordination Board, said the presence of domestic or foreign commercial interests would adversely affect the local people's efforts to increase their earnings.

"We have tried to make our country breed these silkmoths as well as produce and market the silk fabrics. We do not wish to become a mere exporter of silk cocoons," she said, citing the training of 12 people at the university on breeding techniques of wild silkmoths.

"Frankly, this is the right moment to empower the socially and economically disadvantaged as many Japanese businessmen are so interested in Situmorang's findings that they claim them as their own, not to mention the possibility of Jakarta businessmen monopolizing the business," she said.

Much of Situmorang's findings were made possible by Kyoto- based Japanese company Jurako Ori which provided him with research equipment including microscopes and centrifuge instruments.

The silkmoths' cocoons will be exported to Japan, according to Gadjah Mada university.

China controls 80 percent of the world's silk production, with the remaining 20 percent divided between Indonesia and neighboring southeast Asian countries. (23/01)