Silk Production in Brazil-Crop 2017/2018
Mr. João Berdu
President of Bisa Overseas, project manager of Vale da Seda
Data from International Sericultural Commission shows Brazil as the 5th raw silk producer in the world with 600 tons produced. China continues to be by far the leader with 80% of world production in 2017. Chinese and Indian silk production sums more than 98% of world production.
Source: ISC - International Sericultural Commission
About 95% of Brazilian silk is exported as raw silk or silk yarn. In 2017 the main consumers were: Vietnam with 43%, Japan with 26%, France with 22% and Italy with 6%.
Source: Brazilian Ministry of International Trade
Brazilian strength on silk is not related with volume, but it is related with stable high quality and reliable partnerships throughout the entire silk production chain. Sericulture in Brazil is concentrated in the South of the country where average temperature and rain distribution allows the production of up to 9 cocoon crops, from September to May (spring to autumn). About 83% of Brazilian cocoon production is made in the State of Parana. Another 12% is produced in the State of São Paulo and about 5% in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. On crop 2017/2018 that has just finished in May/2018, State of Paraná counted with 1,850 serifarmers and latest forecast points out to a production of 2,505 tons of cocoons in natura, with a mulberry planted area of 4,069 hectares. Forecast of average price paid in 2017/2018 is US$5.71/kg.
In three decades the yearly cocoon production in Paraná decreased from 12,638 tons to the lowest quantity of 2,217 tons on crop 2013/14. On same period the number of filatures decreased from five to just one company. Today BRATAC is the sole company producing silk in Brazil and combined efforts between BRATAC, Paraná State Universities, EMATER - Paraná State Agricultural Technical Assistance Institute, IAPAR – Paraná State Agricultural Research Institute and ABRASEDA – Brazilian Silk Industry Association have made possible to renew the entrance of new farmers on the sericultural activity.
After years of reduction in cocoon production and number of serifarmers, since 2015 sericulture in Brazil is experiencing a small but steady increase of production. In Paraná, number of farmers increased from 1,790 to 1,948 in three years, if we consider the number of farmers who have started crop 2018/2019 in September/2018. This result is being possible as the number of farmers that are starting on sericulture overcomes the number of farmers that are leaving the activity. On crop 2015/16 there was 340 newcomers while same number quit cocoon production. On crop 2016/17 the newcomers were 250 and number of those who quit was 224. On Crop 2017/18 there was a decrease of 17 farmers and crop 2018/19 has started with an increase of 98 farmers.
The result of this positive balance on number of farmers can be seen on the continuous growth of mulberry cultivated area that increased from 3,731 ha on crop 2014/15 to 4,069 ha on crop 2017/18. It is worthy to remark that on first year of production a new area planted with mulberry produces about 30% of its capacity, reaching full production potential from the third year onward.
While farmers that were reluctant to use new technologies or had old fields with lower population of less productive mulberry varieties were leaving the activity, new farmers were attracted to sericulture by the financial results that can be obtained with innovation techniques that could be designed and implanted from the beginning of the activity, enabling high productivity per area and per person involved on the activity. These innovation techniques are the result of joint efforts between a private company and state bodies linked to sericulture in Paraná.
Among these innovations three are highlighted in this paper: equipment to cut mulberry bushes, equipment to put down and up the cocooning mounting frames and the equipment to harvest the cocoon.
1 - Equipment to cut mulberry bushes
Put on tractor, this equipment makes it possible reduce to 5 hours the operation of cutting and transportation of mulberry bushes that would take 30 hours on the regular method
2 - Equipment to put down and up the cocooning mounting frames
The setting of a simple system of cables and pulleys driven by equipment as common as a drill, makes it possible that one single person could perform in 1.8 hours the operation of put down and up the cocooning mounting frames that would take 18 hours of 2 people working on regular method.
3 - Equipment to harvest the cocoon
Powered by human force or electricity this equipment makes it possible reduce to 3 hours the operation of removing the cocoons from carton frame, taking out the silk blaze so that it does not bring impurities to silk reeling operation. On regular method this operation takes about 13 hours.
Innovations developed on research institutes are being tested by BRATAC and Parana State technicians on actual silk cocoon rearing farms prior to be spread among other serifarmers. There are 21 reference unities on 16 different cities in the State of Paraná. Bellow picture shows the average productivity in kg of cocoon per hectare of mulberry planted area among these unities in the period covering 2014 up to 2018. It goes from 822 kg/ha up to 1,567 kg/ha with an average of 1,042 kg/ha, while the average State productivity is 611 kg/ha.
Some technologies involve higher investments than others and their efficiency are being tested prior to recommendation to other farmers. The studies on these 21 reference unities have started in 2014 and some results are already largely recommended.
Conclusion
Sericulture in Paraná has a profitability that overcomes any other agricultural option of economic activity on a two hectares rural property. Development of low cost technology that makes possible to increase the yield of production, decrease the number of people involved and reduce the hard work is contributing to the increase of Brazilian silk cocoon production. Record shows that in Brazil the silk road leads to innovation.
