On the outskirts of Chebrolu in Gollaprolu mandal of Kakinada district, vast fields of harvest-ready mulberry plants quivered in the monsoon winds. Amidst their vibrant green, however, herds of cattle greedily munch on the matured crop. They move quickly, clearing rows after rows within short periods.
This, however, is not a raid by wandering cattle on the hard work of a sericulture farmer, but a poignant reflection of the rapid decline of one of the largest mulberry pockets in Coastal Andhra. Once a thriving business, sericulture in the region is being abandoned by distressed farmers, leaving their last mulberry crop for cattle to feed on.
Cattle on a mulberry plantation abandoned by a farmer at Chebrolu in Kakinada district.
| Photo Credit:
T. APPALA NAIDU
Heyday long gone
Stretching along the banks of the Left Main Canal of Polavaram Irrigation Project, Chebrolu panchayat underwent a mulberry revolution in the 1980s, when the crop replaced two of the region’s prime commercial crops — chilli and onion.
It made sense to switch as silkworms gave a maximum yield of 150 kg cocoons per harvest, with feed from an acre of mulberry plantation. The season begins in July, and four harvests can be made a year, taking the total expected yield of cocoons per year per acre of mulberry feed to around 600 kg.
Until two years ago, the business was good. Two reeling units established by the Department of Sericulture in Chebrolu ensured demand for cocoons produced locally and reined in transportation costs, and costs mattered for the farmers, 90% of whom are tenants paying a rent of nearly ₹30,000 an acre. They also shell out around ₹20,000 to irrigate the plantation with groundwater, in addition to the input cost of ₹80,000 per acre per annum.
Profitability of sericulture, however, went on a tailspin after the Chebrolu cocoon market was shut two years ago in the aftermath of the silk reeling units putting up the shutters. “Closure of Chebrolu cocoon market forced us to go to the nearest cocoon markets of Hindupur in Anantapuram district (800 km) or Palamner in Chittoor district (750 km),” says 28-year-old farmer Nallaravula Ramesh. He recalls last year’s trip to Hindupur and how they struggled to protect the cocoons during the long haul.
To reduce transportation cost, Chebrolu farmers formed a group to hire lorries and take their produce to Hindupur or Palamner markets. Tenant farmer Oruganti Suribabu, who grows mulberry on eight acres, explains: “We get in touch with lorry owners who operate their vehicles from Bengaluru to Rajamahendravaram and Visakhapatnam transporting flowers. We hire these vehicles at a cost of ₹20,000 per quintal of cocoon to go to the markets in Hindupur or Palamaner”. However, even at these markets, the farmers say they don’t get a fair deal.
“Once we reach the market, the buyers, who know very well why we ended up there, begin to bargain for a lower price than the day’s government-fixed rate,” says Oruganti Suribabu. The highest price for cocoon (bivoltine worm) was ₹638 a kg at the Government Cocoon Market at Hindupur (as of July 5), but the buyers normally quote a price ₹150 to ₹200 lower than the market price per kg.
“And we cannot even decline such an offer; we can neither take it back or stay in the market for a few days for a better price,” says Suribabu. Since the distance between Hindupur and Palamner is nearly 200 km, the farmers seldom attempt to visit the other market in search for a better price.
A new threat emerges
Hit by the non spinning syndrome, scores of farmers at Chebrolu in Kakinada district have abandoned sericulture to shift to other commercial crops.
| Photo Credit:
T. APPALA NAIDU
Ramesh, who is also a tenant mulberry farmer, has been spending sleepless nights for over a fortnight now. In his concrete shed, the month-old silkworms are expected to spin cocoons in a week, but this year he is not sure whether that would happen at all.
It was during the last monsoon that at least twenty mulberry plant farmers in Chebrolu, including Ramesh, noticed a strange but devastating behavioural change in the silkworms: none of them were spinning cocoons. An investigation by Central Silk Board (CSB-Ministry of Textiles) named the phenomenon non-spinning syndrome or NSS.
Since the appearance of the syndrome in 2024, mulberry plant cultivation in Chebrolu grama panchayat plummeted, with the total area under cultivation falling from 1,140 acres in 2024 to 814 acres within a year. The number of silkworm sheds have collapsed from 400 in 2022 to nearly 150 now.
In June 2025, the government shifted the Central Silk Board’s Regional Research and Extension Centre (CSB-REE), which is tasked evaluation of the changes in agro-climatic conditions and helping farmers adopt technologies to tackle existing challenges, from Vijayawada to Chebrolu. On July 1, the CSB appointed E. Bhuvaneswari, Scientist-D, as in-charge of the REE.
“In Chebrolu, indiscriminate use of pesticides on cotton fields adjacent to the mulberry crop is suspected to be the cause for the NSS, which was first recorded in Andhra Pradesh here last year,” observes Ms. Bhuvaneswari. She had previously investigated the prevalence of NSS in silkworms in north Karnataka, where groundnut farmers had extensively used pesticides.
Central Silk Board scientist E. Bhuvaneswari.
“The investigation is still going on to tackle and prevent the spread of NSS,” says Ms. Bhuvaneswari, who is engaged in persuading the farmers to adopt new technologies and scientific methods for quality cocoons and crop management.
As for Ramesh, he has told his father that he would quit sericulture if it drives him to debt again.
What can be done
As of July so far, 131 private silk reeling units operate in Hindupur, creating a huge demand for cocoons, according to Sericulture Information Linkages and Knowledge System, Silk Board of India.
Oruganti Srinu, a second-generation sericulture farmer who cultivates mulberry on four acres, says the government should encourage household-level reeling units, similar to those in Hindupur, in Chebrolu as well. “This will guarantee livelihood for women and create demand for cocoons locally.”
Notably, Chebrolu had an automatic silk reeling unit with a daily spinning capacity of 240 kg. Inaugurated in September 2019 by the then Minister for Agriculture Kurasala Kannababu, this unit was supposed to be a game changer and shore up sericulture in the region. It was owned by Vulavakayala Satti Raju, a local traditional silk reeler-turned-entrepreneur.
“Within a year, however, our unit was hit by the COVID-19 lockdown, during which mulberry farmers went on crop holiday. It pushed me into debt, and I had to shut down the unit in 2022,” says 64-year-old Satti Raju.
“I had bought seven acres with profits from the traditional method of silk production, which is done on charkha. I used to supply silk to the famous Uppada Jamdani saree weavers in Kakinada district and operated 60 handlooms to weave silk sarees… I had to sell five acres to run the reeling unit,” says Satti Raju, who is now an agent who procures cocoons from those unable to take their produce to Hindupur and Palamner markets, earning a commission.
Another pain point among farmers the pending payment of incentive from the government, which offers ₹50 as incentive per kg of cocoons arriving at the government market. According to Assistant Sericulture Officer-Chebrolu T. Satyanarayana, ₹3 crore in incentive is still pending from the government.
“I have been waiting for the ₹2.5 lakh from the government, which owes the incentive amount to every farmer here. This year, I had to scale down the area under mulberry cultivation and shift to cotton,” alleges 42-year-old Srinu.
Shifting preferences
Oruganti Siva, a 22-year-old farmer whose harvest failed last year reportedly owing to NSS, says the farmers who gave up mulberry cultivation after suffering losses due to lack of markets and the threat of the syndrome have mostly shifted to cotton. “Until June, no expert or scientist was available in the Sericulture Department office in Chebrolu,” he says. Siva has fully given up mulberry cultivation and went for cotton on his two-acres.
Farmers who own land but don’t wish to lease it are replacing mulberry with oil palm, a new commercial crop gaining acceptance in this area.
In the Pithapuram Assembly Constituency Action Plan for Viksit Bharat-2047, the Pithapuram Area Development Authority (PADA) has proposed improving infrastructure and cocoon market facilities in Chebrolu. PADA was established in November 2024, extending its jurisdiction up to Gollaprolu Mandal.
“We have submitted reports to the government for the release of the pending ₹3 crore incentives to the farmers and revival of the cocoon market,” says PADA vice-chairperson A. Chaitra Varshini.
Many tenant farmers still hope that a ‘Silk City’ will come up in Chebrolu, as promised by Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan in the run up to the 2024 general elections. “We voted him to power and are waiting for him to make good on his promise,” they say.
