Turkey:Kozabirlik to receive $400,000 to revive silk industry
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2006-10-23 13:58:00
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TISTANBUL
The Bursa Association of Cocoon and Silk Agriculture Sales Cooperatives (Kozabirlik) has decided to take immediate action to revive the Turkish silk industry. In order to do so it will receive a $400,000 combined grant from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the South Korean Technical Collaboration Agency. Kozabirlik plans to establish new facilities with the money and to provide silk producers with silkworm eggs, free of charge. “Primarily, we need a facility where the silk thread is extracted from the cocoon. We have contacted several foundations to request grant money to build such a facility. In the near future we will have an active role in all aspects of both cocoon and silk production,” said Kozabirlik General Manager Ayhan Karag?zo?lu. “We will lay the foundation of our filature (silk spinning) facility in Eski?ehir's Sar?cakayalar district. Some of its cost will be covered through equity capital, the rest will be provided through grants,” he added. “We will do all that we can to bring the level of silk and silkworm production up to that of previous years in Turkey,” said Karag?zo?lu. Active in Bursa, 65-year-old Kozabirlik recently reduced costs by restructuring its staff and liquidating its inactive assets. In order for sericulture (silk-farming and production) to survive, Kozabirlik has to stand tall, said Karag?zo?lu. Kozabirlik has also begun to provide silk producers with free education and insecticide-application services. Experts from the South Korean Technical Collaboration Agency are helping Kozabirlik with its education program, providing training in the areas of quality and productivity.Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' Silkworm Research Institute is being turned over to Kozabirlik, in a process expected to reach completion in the next few days.
Silk in Turkey: a glorious past: The silk industry is a 1,500-year-old economic, cultural and traditional activity in Anatolia, which was a very important stop on the Silk Road during the mid-15th century, in particular Bursa and its environs, which became a big silk production and trade center. According to records, during the 1860s there were 31 silk factories and more than 5,000 silk-weaving looms in Bursa alone. The beginning of the 1900s was the peak period for Turkey's cocoon production. During 1908, 18,338 tons of cocoons were produced; a record high for Turkey. Unfortunately, following this period Turkish farmers began to pull out of the business due to the spread of lower-costing Chinese silk. Silk production began to drop, eventually reaching just 100 tons annually.
Source: Industry Website