National Sericulture Station has today announced plans to help farmers earn from silkworm farming. The farmer drawn from Kiambu, Kakamega and Nyandarua will be trained on how to rear silkworms for production of raw silk.
Speaking in Thika during a seminar, Anne Igecha extension officer at the National Sericulture centre said that silkworm farming has not been fully utilized adding that they would prefer to work with individual farmers.
The station sells worms to farmers at subsidized price to persuade them into commercial farming. A batch of 20,000 worms goes for Kshs500.
She added that Silk Worms are used in making fibres while its waste are used as manure.
However Igecha says that Silkworms are prone to infection if proper disinfection of the rearing house and rearing equipment is not done.
Rearing Silk Worms requires a steady supply of Mulberry leaves. Female Silk Worm deposit 300-400 eggs at a time.
Igecha urged the youth to embrace the business saying it is a rewarding venture.