Adil Sarvi, Head of Sericulture Center of Iran, made the remark on Monday during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation between the Animal Production Department at Ministry of Agriculture and the Department for Employment and Self Sufficiency of Imam Khomeini Relief Committee.
He said 90 percent of the world’s silk is produced by Asian countries, with China in the first place with an annual production of 142,000 tons and India in the second place with production of 32,000 tons of silk.
According to him, 22 provinces in Iran are active in silk farming, although 96 percent of silkworms cultivation is concentrated in only seven provinces, with Gilan on top (40%), followed by Razavi Khorasan (30%) in northeastern Iran.
Sarvi noted that the country had reached its target production of 900 tons of silkworm cocoon last year, adding that the volume is predicted to hit 978 tons this year, with an over 55% increase of revenue for the silk farmers.
Presently, 50 percent of the country’s overall silkworm cocoon is harvested in northern province of Gilan.
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