Context: The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central Silk Board on a convergence model for the implementation of Agroforestry in the silk sector under the ongoing Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF) Scheme
Significance

• The signing of this MoU aims to incentivize the farmers to take up sericulture based Agroforestry models thereby contributing to the Make in India and Make for the World vision.
• This linkage will add another dimension to agroforestry for faster returns to the growers as well as support the production of the range of silks that India is famous for.
• Planting sericulture based tree species on the farm bunds and rearing silkworms will help in creating additional income opportunities for farmers besides their regular source of income from agriculture activities.
• It will contribute to the Prime Minister's vision of doubling farmers' income by 2022.

About the Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF)

• The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare (DAC & FW) has been implementing the Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF) since 2016-17 as part of the recommendation of the National Agroforestry Policy 2014.
• This sub-mission is under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
• India was the first country to have such a comprehensive policy which was launched at the World Agroforestry Congress held in Delhi in February 2014.
• At present, the scheme is being implemented in 20 States and 2 UTs.

Aim of the mission

• SMAF aims to encourage farmers to plant multi-purpose trees together with the agriculture crops for climate resilience and an additional source of income to the farmers, as well as enhanced feedstock to inter alia wood-based and herbal industry.

Additional Information

Agroforestry

• Agroforestry systems include both traditional and modern land-use systems where trees are managed together with crops and/or animal production systems in agricultural settings.
• It is a practical and low-cost means of implementing many forms of integrated land management (which seeks to reduce human impacts on land), and it contributes to a green economy by promoting long-term, sustainable, and renewable forest management, especially for small-scale producers.

Steps -

• Major policy initiatives, including the National Forest Policy 1988, the National Agriculture Policy 2000, Planning Commission Task Force on Greening India 2001, National Bamboo Mission 2002, National Policy on Farmers, 2007 and Green India Mission 2010, emphasize the role of agroforestry for efficient nutrient cycling, organic matter addition for sustainable agriculture and for improving vegetation cover.
• However, agroforestry has not gained the desired importance as a resource development tool due to various factors.

Sericulture

• It  is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.
• The major activities of sericulture comprises food-plant cultivation to feed the silkworms which spin silk cocoons and reeling the cocoons for unwinding the silk filament for value added benefits such as processing and weaving.
• Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used.
• Silk-fiber is a protein produced from the silk-glands of silkworms.
• Sericulture is ideally suited for improving the rural economy of the country, as it is practiced as a subsidiary industry to agriculture.

Steps -

• The Government of India through the Central Silk Board has been implementing a Central Sector Scheme “Silk Samagra” an Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk Industry (ISDSI) during the year (2017-20) .
• The scheme comprises four (4) major Components viz. (i) Research & Development, Training, Transfer of Technology and I.T. Initiatives, (ii) Seed Organizations, (iii) Coordination and Market Development and (iv) Quality Certification Systems (QCS) / Export Brand Promotion and Technology Up-gradation.

Aims & objective 

• To scale up production by improving the quality and productivity and to empower downtrodden, poor & backward families through various activities of sericulture in the country.