After Pathankot, Doaba set to take the 'silk route'

Buoyed by the success of the sericulture pilot project in Pathankot, Punjab is all set to expand silk production to the Doaba belt within a year.

- Vishal Joshi

BATHINDA:

The state forest department has roped in 46 economically marginalised villagers from Hoshiarpur to produce silk cocoons.

In 2022, as part of a pilot project, the state forest department had provided training and infrastructure to 116 villagers, most of them belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, having no or small landholdings, in the underdeveloped Dhar revenue block of Pathankot.

As part of the project, nearly 40,000 mulberry trees were planted in Pathankot, with its leaves - which are the only source of food for silkworms - being provided to the sericulturists for free.