

March 31, 2024
On March 31, OISCA signed a one-year contract from March 2023 with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Grant Assistance for the Japanese NGO Project in the Philippines The aim of this project is for supporting a project to revive the traditional culture and improve the lives of local residents by expanding sericulture and covers the areas in the four provinces: Tuba and Kapangan of Benguet and Bayombong of Nueva Vizcaya in the Northern Luzon, Maticao, Naawan and Opol of Misamis Oriental in the Northern Mindanao, and Bago of Negros Occidental on Negros Island, Western Visaya.
In the Philippines, textiles are widely produced, but most of the raw silk used for warp yarn is imported from overseas, so the Philippine government is promoting sericulture on a nationwide scale with the aim of producing high-quality raw silk in the country itself. In addition, there has been a long-term shortage of raw silk supply in the Philippines, and the number of textile industry workers who will carry on the sericulture industry is decreasing. In the meantime, the rising cost of gasoline due to global inflation has directly impacted the cost of transporting silkworms and cocoons, spurring farmers to withdraw from mulberry production and silk spinning.
Following this situation, OISCA received a request from the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) to address the problems. This project aims to promote and expand the sericultural industry by holding training programs and joint seminars for fostering sericultural farmers, developing facilities and mulch farms for silkworm breeding, and also providing leaders of sericultural development in the Philippines through training visits to Japan by representatives from each province.