Kerala’s SERISREE project for poverty eradication through sericulture promotion

The Kerala State Sericulture Co operative Federation (SERIFED), Kerala, India has launched a poverty eradication project in the state, through intensive promotion of sericulture among the people Below Poverty Line. The federation receives financial support from the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) of the Government of India. Under the SGSY, assistance is given to the poor families living below the poverty line in rural areas for taking up self employment. The persons taking up Self-Employment are called swarozgaris. They may take up the activity either individually or in Groups, called the Self-Help Groups. For successful Self-Employment, it is necessary to take up the right activity. For this purpose, 4 to 5 activities are selected in each Block with the help of officials, non-officials and the Bankers. These are called ‘Key Activities’, and should be such that they give the Swarozgaris an income of Rs. 2000 per month, net of Bank loan repayment.

The SERISREE project is formulated by SERIFED by following the example of the KUDUMBASREE project run by the state government. The major objectives of the project are to eradicate poverty through promotion of gainful employment and additional income generating opportunities through sericulture, to ensure economic empowerment of rural women and small & marginal farmers, to ensure sustainable development of sericulture industry, to exploit available natural resources to the best advantage of sericulture sector, to promote lease farming in the State as there is not sufficient cultivable land under the ownership of people below poverty line, to provide necessary technological support for the stabilisation of the activity, to popularise small scale sericulture farming ie, homestead sericulture farming system, to effectively utilise wasteland of Institution/Estates/Government etc.

The project includes five major components viz. Assistance for Establishment of Mulberry Kissan Nurseries, Assistance to Individual Sericulturists, Establishment of Chawki Rearing-cum- Input Service Centres, Setting up of Disinfection Squad and Establishment of Silk Reeling Infrastructure. These five components are expected to complement each other and serve as a strong back bone to the scheme implementation by way of creating a congenial circumstance for wholesome development of the sericulture industry in the rural sector involving BPL families. The total project cost is 14.32 crores. The basic unit is designated as a Field Operating Unit (FOU), consisting of four BPL beneficiaries together managing one acre mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing. Since the BPL beneficiaries can’t be expected to possess own land, the cultivation will be taken up in leased land. A financial assistance to the tune of nearly Rs. 1lakh is proposed under various heads for each FOU. Later Self Help Groups are constituted by such five FOUS, forming a group of 20 members. It is expected that the SERISREE project will be a turning point in Kerala’s sericulture.

Under the project it is expected to bring in 1000 acres of fresh mulberry plantations and a matching cocoon production. The entire activity is proposed to create employment opportunities to the tune of 59 lakhs man days in three years.

Kerala State Sericulture Co-operative Federation (Serifed) was established as a nodal agency for implementing sericulture activities in the State. Sericulture in Kerala is based on small-holdings, low investment and family labor oriented; moderate income generating and a subsidy oriented one. The major strategies of Serifed during 2008-09 are promotion of new mulberry varieties suitable for Kerala conditions, cluster approach of sericulture development of potential areas, active involvement of local self Government institutions, development of 100% Bivoltine sericulture, implementation of women empowerment scheme etc.