Sericulture: a highlight in Yizhou

Yizhou district in Hechi, known as the hometown of sericulture in China, boasts a history of mulberry growing and silkworm breeding going back more than 470 years.

Its plantation areas of mulberry and its silkworm cocoon production have ranked first among all the counties and county-level districts around China for 14 consecutive years.

To date, there are 456,000 people in 100,000 households in Yizhou involved in sericulture, accounting for 84.1 percent of the district's total rural population. The number of impoverished people who plant mulberry or rear silkworms in the district stands at 34,776, making up 60.05 percent of the district's total poverty-stricken population.

The mulberry plantation area now totals 372,000 mu (24,800 hectares) - an increase of more than 10,000 mu compared with 2018. Of this total area, the plantation area of mulberry in poverty-stricken villages is 32,000 mu.

In 2019, the output level of cocoon production in Yizhou reached 62,300 metric tons, with a value of 2.84 billion yuan ($403.45 million): a new record high. Farmers' per capita income from sericulture was more than 5,900 yuan.

There are currently 17 cocoon silk processing enterprises above designated scale in Yizhou, of which 15 are for silk reeling.

The production of raw silk between these 17 enterprises is expected to exceed 4,500 tons in 2019, while that of greige will surpass 4.1 million meters, maintaining the district's first place among all the counties and county-level districts in Guangxi. The total output value is estimated to exceed 2 billion yuan.

There are also 15 enterprises focusing on the development and utilization of sericulture resources, including the biologically safe disposal of silkworm excrement and silk quilt making.

The production output of silk quilts in 2019 is expected to reach 220,000, with a value of more than 300 million yuan, while the bio-safe disposal level of silkworm excrement will be about 140,000 tons, with a rate of more than 38 percent.

The seven mulberry-branch edible fungi enterprises in Hechi have an annual edible fungus production of 85 million 'rods', with a total output value of 230 million yuan.

The Guangxi bulk cocoon silk trading market, the ASEAN international cocoon silk trading center, and the Jiaxin Silk Garden have all successively settled in Yizhou in recent years.

Industry chains involving silk and mulberry leaves have been built in Yizhou. Alongside the online and offline sales network, a relatively complete circular economy centered on sericulture has been formed there.

Relying on online trading platforms, Yizhou's silk products have been exported to Italy, Brazil, Japan, Vietnam, India, and Romania.

In 2019, the total output value of the circular sericulture economy in Yizhou is expected to reach 8.7 billion yuan.