Abstract
Uzbekistan is the third-largest silk producer of the world after China and India. However, the production of high-quality silk has declined since the fall of Soviet Union, due to the undermined research, development and extension institutions that lead to the local and imported silkworm eggs with unstable quality. Japan used to be the world’s top silk producer from the turn of the 20th century till the 1970s, and made the highest-quality silkworm eggs that were sought for by other countries to improve their domestic silkworms. Under the Soviet regime, Uzbekistan had limited access to those eggs. In 2009, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency began a project in Fergana Province, with the goals of increasing cocoon production and improving silk quality by the introduction of Japanese autumn-breed Kinshu × Showa and spring-breed Shungetsu × Hosho silkworms. Local Uzbek farmers proved their skills in silkworm rearing, and the Fergana fiber industry demonstrated its capability in producing good silk threads. Thus, rehabilitation of the integrated Uzbek silk production system likely depends upon maintenance and development of the introduced silkworm breeds, and effective technical extension to cocoon producers.
