December 17, 2014
Cambodia’s natural silk industry is on the verge of extinction
due to the widespread use of pesticides that have severely damaged the
health of silkworms, leading producers to rely on imported synthetic
fibers to meet demand, experts say.
Men Sinoeun, executive director of the Artisan’s Association of
Cambodia, said global demand for the luxury fiber in recent years has
remained at between 300 and 400 tons, while the production of natural
silk in Cambodia has continued to fall, dropping to only one ton a year.
Speaking on the sidelines of a trade expo in Phnom Penh on Monday, he
said the problem lies with the extensive use of chemicals on farms.
“The production of golden silk is very little because our villages
use chemicals on their rice crops and in agriculture, which badly
affects the silkworms [resulting] in people changing from this work to
things like growing cassava or migrating to other countries like
Thailand,” Mr. Sinoeun said.
“More importantly, no one can cure the health problems of the
silkworms,” he added. “We are very worried about losing our Khmer
identity.”
Meas Sorphorn, deputy director of the National Silk Center, which
provides training on silkworm breeding in Siem Reap province, said
silkworms living in polluted environments produce poor quality silk, and
less of it.
“When farmers use pesticides in their fields, the pesticide smell is
carried in the wind to silkworm dwellings, making them less and less
healthy,” he said Tuesday on the sidelines of a workshop on the silk
sector in Phnom Penh.
Mr. Sorphorn said an unhealthy silkworm produces up to 100 meters of
thread in its lifetime of about 20 to 24 days while a healthy one can
yield five times that.
Sisowath Pheanuroth, an adviser to the International Trade Center who
attended Tuesday’s workshop, said the organization was working with the
Commerce Ministry to establish a national silk board by early next year
to create policies to revive local production.
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