Rural families play crucial role in Uzbekistan’s silk crop
25/07/2014
They have also claimed that the volume of silk Uzbekistan is now able to cultivate makes it the third-largest source of the fibre in the world, behind only China and India.
Cultivating silk cocoons is an ancient rural practice in Uzbekistan and the methods in place now have changed little for centuries. This is attractive to garment brands because of the high demand for authenticity and environmental care among consumers.
In April, families receive around 50 grammes of silkworm larvae in small boxes from the government (the state takes responsibility for silk production in Uzbekistan). Family members share the responsibility for keeping the silkworms at a constant temperature of between 27 and 28 degrees Celsius and feeding them with large volumes of fresh mulberry leaves to eat.
By the end of May, each larva is likely to weigh 70 times more than it did at the start of the process. After about a month, they start spinning cocoons of silk around themselves, which the families later harvest. Around 70% of Uzbekistan’s silk harvest goes for export.
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