Cambodian silk producers will be soon able to get quality silkworms from a breeding centre at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), thanks to a specialised team that is seeking to increase professionalism in the Kingdom’s silk industry.
RUPP on Tuesday held an event to kick off the new Silk Research Center, saying they expect to produce and distribute healthy worms to community producers later this year.
Mey Kalyan, chairman of the Board of Directors at RUPP, said Cambodia’s silk products aren’t part of a complete production line and so the country relies heavily on imported silk for its final product.
While there are many Cambodian farmers using silkworms, Kalyan said they follow old feeding traditions without having the benefit of a breeding centre, and this results in low yields.
He said the Kingdom can produce only about one percent of the total demand for silk, and that more than $30 million is spent on importing 400 tonnes of it per year.
“Our goal is to promote finished silk products made entirely in Cambodia. We want our university to be a professional research centre to supply healthy silkworms and help farmers produce high-quality silk,” he said.
