Silk Reeling Machine Installation boosting productivity in Uganda

Silk machinery installation has boosted cocoon productivity of all sericulture stations under TRIDI.

Installing of Silk reeling machinery, has since set all the Tropical Institute of Development Innovations (TRIDI) staff, working tirelessly, like termites, to have all the required amounts of cocoon, for drying and reeling

One drier requires about 500 kgs of cocoon, per day, which are dried within 4 hours.

Therefore this means that in a day, a whole tonne of cocoons can be dried and forwarded to the next session of reeling to raw silk fabric

TRIDI received and launched silk reeling machinery earlier on this April and has since experienced tremendous production in the rearing cycles and harvests of cocoons, as an average production per station recorded, is 80kgs per cycle

Other stations like Kween, Kamuli, Rubaare and Busitema have had great cocoon outputs amounting up to 325, 284, 164 and 143 kgs., respectively, in their last rearing

These numbers continue to grow per rearing cycle and TRIDI envisions that by this time next year, fabrics will be processed, given the consistency in cocoon outputs

Installing machinery continues to broaden activities, create bigger opportunities and improve productivity through bettering the sericulture value chain

Clet Wandui Masiga, TRIDI’s Principal Investigator of the sericulture project, explains that, “Production has tripled ever since the installation commenced, as the drier has to be put to use day and night. So all station managers have put it to notice that work and productivity have doubled efforts for better output and to keep up to the speed of the drying and silk production cycle.”

Machinery employment has continued to improve the working and productivity standards as all workers have seen the silk industry having greater opportunities and a much better future and so are working harder to bring a once envisioned dream to reality

Uganda’s silk industry continues to topple over other agro-based industries like coffee, cotton, tobacco, sugarcane, among others, and soon enough, not only the workers at TRIDI but also the country, too, will earn much more, silk being a queen-fabric that earns a lot of revenue on the global market. TRIDI’s sericulture will set Uganda’s economy to a much greater position on the global market, with consistency in production and exportation of silk products.

Story compiled by Mercy Scarlet Kigai, P.R.O TRIDI.