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Supporting Sericulture Rehabilitation








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    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Brochure
    Supporting Sericulture Rehabilitation 2013
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    FAO aims to strengthen the earlier stages of the value chain and help Cambodia ease its reliance on imports, with specific emphasis on developing sustainable silkworm rearing techniques and producing high-yield cocoons and high-quality silk yarn.
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    Project
    Factsheet
    Capacity Building For Silk and Orange Production - TCP/LAO/3802 2025
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    In Lao PDR, both orange and silk production are significant but underutilized agricultural sectors. Despite the potential for self-sufficiency, domestic production of both products falls short of meeting local demand, necessitating substantial annual imports. Although oranges are cultivated in 90 percent of villages across the country, productivity remains low due to farmers’ reliance on traditional management techniques, including poor planting material, minimal fertilizer use, and inadequate pest control methods. These inefficiencies have led many farmers to convert their land to more profitable rubber plantations, reducing the availability of land suitable for fruit trees. Similarly, the silk industry, which operates across 15 of the country’s 17 provinces, experiences shortcomings, with annual production meeting less than 10 percent of domestic demand. Production remains largely traditional, with rural women managing the entire process manually from silkworm cultivation to weaving. Despite government efforts to strengthen the sector, it has yet to achieve standardization, automation, or commercial scale. Within this context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) of Lao PDR requested technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to enhance orange and silk production, with a particular focus on strengthening smallholder farmers.
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    Document
    Technical report
    Sericulture: An Alternative Source of Income to Enhance the Livelihoods of Small-scale Farmers and Tribal Communities
    Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative: A Living from Livestock
    2009
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    This paper provides a summary review of the development and implementation of BAIF’s sericulture programme in the Indian state of Maharashtra. BAIF Development Research Foundation (BAIF), a national NGO based in Pune, Maharashtra, has been active in developing and promoting better livelihood options for the rural poor in the country. BAIF adopted a multi-pronged strategic approach by introducing a technology-based integrated farming model, empowering and capacitating communities to take the lead in implementation and marketing of the produce, but providing strong backup support with an effective monitoring system. This paper provides an overview of the technological innovations that resulted from BAIF’s on-station and on-farm experimentation, the economics of sericulture along the entire value chain from cocoon to raw silk to silk fabric, and the environmental impact of two forms of sericulture – smallholder farmers using planted mulberry trees and tribal communities, relying on Arjuna / Asan trees in natural forests to feed the silkworms.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Brochure
    Supporting Sericulture Rehabilitation 2013
    Also available in:

    FAO aims to strengthen the earlier stages of the value chain and help Cambodia ease its reliance on imports, with specific emphasis on developing sustainable silkworm rearing techniques and producing high-yield cocoons and high-quality silk yarn.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Project
    Factsheet
    Capacity Building For Silk and Orange Production - TCP/LAO/3802 2025
    Also available in:
    No results found.

    In Lao PDR, both orange and silk production are significant but underutilized agricultural sectors. Despite the potential for self-sufficiency, domestic production of both products falls short of meeting local demand, necessitating substantial annual imports. Although oranges are cultivated in 90 percent of villages across the country, productivity remains low due to farmers’ reliance on traditional management techniques, including poor planting material, minimal fertilizer use, and inadequate pest control methods. These inefficiencies have led many farmers to convert their land to more profitable rubber plantations, reducing the availability of land suitable for fruit trees. Similarly, the silk industry, which operates across 15 of the country’s 17 provinces, experiences shortcomings, with annual production meeting less than 10 percent of domestic demand. Production remains largely traditional, with rural women managing the entire process manually from silkworm cultivation to weaving. Despite government efforts to strengthen the sector, it has yet to achieve standardization, automation, or commercial scale. Within this context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) of Lao PDR requested technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to enhance orange and silk production, with a particular focus on strengthening smallholder farmers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Document
    Technical report
    Sericulture: An Alternative Source of Income to Enhance the Livelihoods of Small-scale Farmers and Tribal Communities
    Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative: A Living from Livestock
    2009
    Also available in:
    No results found.

    This paper provides a summary review of the development and implementation of BAIF’s sericulture programme in the Indian state of Maharashtra. BAIF Development Research Foundation (BAIF), a national NGO based in Pune, Maharashtra, has been active in developing and promoting better livelihood options for the rural poor in the country. BAIF adopted a multi-pronged strategic approach by introducing a technology-based integrated farming model, empowering and capacitating communities to take the lead in implementation and marketing of the produce, but providing strong backup support with an effective monitoring system. This paper provides an overview of the technological innovations that resulted from BAIF’s on-station and on-farm experimentation, the economics of sericulture along the entire value chain from cocoon to raw silk to silk fabric, and the environmental impact of two forms of sericulture – smallholder farmers using planted mulberry trees and tribal communities, relying on Arjuna / Asan trees in natural forests to feed the silkworms.

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    This standard operating procedure (SOP) describes, in general terms, the quantification of the Kjeldahl nitrogen(KjN) content in soil samples. The advantages of this method are based on its robustness, low initial cost of the equipment and extensive application. However, there are disadvantages in using this method compared to others, for example, the use of potentially hazardous reagents that require consideration for safe operation are utilized, alongside the generation of hazardous waste and on-going cost of consumables, which can be mitigated via modified protocols that use lower quantities of reagents. Another limitation of this method is that it measures organic N and mineral N in the form of ammonium cation (NH4+), therefore, to measure the total N, the mineral N in the form of NO3- must be measured separately
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    Taro cultivation in Asia and the Pacific 1999
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    Taro, Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott occupies a significant place in the agriculture of the Asia-Pacific Region. It is in this region, more than any other in the world, that the crop attains its greatest importance as a staple food. In Oceania particularly, taro plays a critical role in the household, community, and national food security. Since both corms and leaves are usually consumed, taro supplies much-needed protein, vitamins, and minerals, in addition to carbohydrate energy. The socio-cultural importance of taro in the region is very high. The crop has evolved to be an integral part of the culture and features prominently in festivals, social gift-giving, and the discharge of social obligations. More recently, taro has become a source of income for individuals, and an earner of foreign exchange. Its role in rural development has therefore been increasing, especially with respect to the provision of employment and the alleviation of rural poverty. Given the importance of taro, activities need to be geared toward its research, development, and available literature. This book is, therefore, a valuable and timely effort to fill some of the information gaps with respect to taro in the Asia-Pacific Region. Apart from a general coverage of the region, it delves into a country-by-country treatment of taro cultivation in 19 of the most important taro-growing countries in the region. The publication will be a useful reference source for researchers, extension workers, growers, and entrepreneurs who are interested in taro. The presentation has placed emphasis on clarity and simplicity to permit easy understanding even by persons for whom English is a second language.
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    Booklet
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    Post-harvest management of banana for quality and safety assurance
    Guidance for horticultural supply chain stakeholders
    2018
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    This guidance note presents the results and lessons learned from an FAO Technical Cooperation Project for capacity development to reduce post-harvest losses in horticultural chains in Timor-Leste. Technical improvements were piloted in Timor-Leste with stakeholders in traditional banana supply chains.