Tanahun, May 11 -- Despite the high global demand and price for fabric made from silk thread, silkworm farming in Tanahun has been reduced to tokenism.

Farmers have stopped cultivating silkworms altogether.

Bhawanath Devkota, acting chief of the Centre for Industrial Entomology Development in Bandipur, said that although the silkworm business was once likened to "white gold", it no longer attracts local farmers. Until 2022, some places in Gandaki Province engaged in commercial silkworm farming, but since then, the centre has been cultivating silkworms solely for seed preservation.

Devkota points to environmental sensitivity, lack of proper infrastructure, and absence of the local market as key reasons behind farmers' disinterest.

"Com...