Present Situation and Prospect of Vietnam Silk Ind

Mr. Dang Vinh Tho

President of Vietnam Sericulture Association

Distinguished participants,

It is my great honor to represent the Vietnam Sericulture Association attending this Meeting in Hangzhou, China. I would like to present the activities of mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing, silk weaving and the establishment of the Vietnam Sericulture Association.

Mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing and silk weaving are a long traditional work in Vietnam. Through thousands of years with many fluctuations, sericulture is still existing and developing. If it had a so strong existence, it is because sericulture has prime characteristics that many other jobs do not have.

The level of investment to mulberry cultivation is not high, it is indeed much lower than other industrial crops such as tea, coffee, rubber… Silkworm is a mono fed worm, its only food is mulberry leaves, therefore it is called  “ mulberry silkworm “ to distinguish it with other silkworm such as eri silkworms which eat cassava leaves. Mulberry can be grown on different kinds of soil from land along river bank, on low land to hilly one. Mulberry leaves can be harvested for silkworm rearing after six months of cultivation, the care of mulberry trees does not need high investment cost. In spite of its low investment cost, silkworm rearing brings quick income from weekly or monthly harvest of silkworms if intercalary crops are done.

One big advantage of silkworm rearing is making use of agricultural leisured labor in families. Thanks to the above mentioned characteristics, it can be said that mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing bring higher income than other jobs. In the meantime, they contribute considerably to the hunger eradication, poverty reduction and making wealth programs in the rural areas of Vietnam at present.

In the past, sericulture in Vietnam was developed mainly in the land along the river banks. Silkworm was polyvoltine races of whose average single filament length of a cocoon is from 250 to 300 meters. The silk was reeled on manual equipment which produced very low quality silk and partly satisfied the demand of clothes of the society such as light dresses, duppion pants and deep color scarves for rural young ladies. After the total liberation of the South Vietnam and the re-unification of the country, mulberry trees and silkworms actually came to the highland of Lam Vien, a red bazan soil area that Doctor Alexandre Yersin discover in 1893. The average altitude of this area is over 1,000 meters above the sea level, the average temperature is from 20 to 25o C, the average humidity is from 80 to 85%, the average rainfall is from 1,800mm/ year. With such favorable soil and temperate weather which is cool around the year, it is very suitable for rearing high quality bivoltine silkworm races.

In the delta of North and Central Vietnam, the polyvoltine silkworm races are mainly raised while the bivoltine races are raised in mountainous area in the North such as Mộc Châu, Sơn La and especially in Lâm Đồng. At present, Lâm Đồng is the biggest mulberry cultivation area in Vietnam with over 5,000 hectares of mulberry and 15,000 farmer families doing sericulture. Each year, from 18 to 20 crops are done and produce over 1,000 tones of raw silk and 5 million meters of silk fabric of various kinds. The total silk products of Lâm Đồng are exported to overseas markets such as India, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh, Japan, etc. Sericulture is a special economic and technical branch which requires a complete production line from soil, cultivation, rearing to silk reeling and silk weaving. Product of the previous step is the raw material for the next one, the quality of the previous product affects the quality and the productivity of the next step. Therefore, in order to maintain and develop sericulture in productivity, there must be good silkworm races and collective rearing of young silkworms. With the aim of connecting farmers with silk reelers, silk companies with government organizations, it is necessary to have an association which acts like a bridge. From that urgent requirement, the Vietnam Sericulture Association was founded.

Vietnam Sericulture Association is a non-governmental, non-profit and spontaneous organization which consists of legal individuals, companies dealing with sericulture and silk production & business, scientists  and social activity persons countrywide. The Association is the prime organ connecting and protecting the legal benefits of its members in sericulture and silk field. It also makes proposals on policies and solutions for developing silk production and business, enhance the competitiveness of the silk sector. Through this Meeting, Vietnam Sericulture Association would like to join the International Silk Union in order to strengthen the connection with potential partners by means of production investment, commercial connection and cooperation negotiation.

The big problem of Vietnam sericulture at present is that the total hybrid bivoltine silkworm eggs used for producing cocoons are imported from China. In Lâm Đồng, the mulberry trees do not undergo the hibernation, therefore, in several crops, the silkworm eggs are reared without hibernation which weaken the vitality of the silkworms and lead to low productivity. Through this Meeting, we would appreciate if the International Silk Union and participants to this Meeting could advise and support the Vietnam Sericulture Association on how to produce good silkworm eggs for Vietnamese farmers.

Wishing you good health, wishing the International Silk Union strong development. We would appreciate the support and cooperation from all of you and from the International Silk Union.

Respectfully thank you !