Proyecto Seda returns to Emitex

The demand of silk and its byproducts highly exceeds the offer, thus the undertakings oriented to sericulture arise as an attractive and profitable economic way out that does not imply great investments and, besides, it does not contaminate the environment.

This was one of the reasons of the emergence of Proyecto Seda, the program that seeks to help in the reduction of poverty in several countries of Latin America and The Caribbean through the development of sustainable sericulture. It is an activity with high potential of improving the life quality of the most vulnerable populations and that may be carried out by small entrepreneurs that inhabit rural areas, craftsmen and/or cooperatives.

The project, driven by INTI, arose in 2016 when the work proposal was selected to receive financing from the European Union. Its aim is to "positively contribute to the strengthening of the silk value chain, as a production chain with the capacity of generating more quality jobs", states Eng. Patricia Marino, Technical coordinator of Proyecto Seda.

The initiative will have again a highlighted place in Emitex –the exhibition that gathers all the main players of the textile industry- with the aim of showing the audience that visits the fair the advances of its four years work plan, which began in January 2017. During the three years of the exhibition, the project booth will have a space for lectures on primary production, material transformation and innovative applications on silk.

Silk is considered the queen of natural fibers due to its properties; it is warm in winter and fresh in summer. Its softness and typical sheen makes of it a material sought a lot by the greatest garment designers.

In this line, Marino adds that "from the project we aim to reinforce and set up, according to the case, Centros Demostrativos Sericicolas (CDS) Page 2 Emitex International Trade Fair of Suppliers for the Garment Industry Costa Salguero Center Buenos Aires, April 9 - 11, 2019

that go through all the phases of the production process up to its handcrafted stage, in order to create pieces with a unique design and with local added value, such as garment products with natural dyes, typical of the production area."

As from the implementation of the initiative new producers from Argentina and the region have interacted. Throughout 2018 approximately a hundred people from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, and Mexico, were trained and received technical assistance; all of them from countries with entities related to the Project.

The institutions from the countries that take part in this initiative are universities, from Argentina FAUBA, specialized in genetic improvement, from Brazil UEM, specialized in basic research for the treatment of silk worms diseases; in Colombia, research and innovation in new materials for medical, cosmetic and food applications; from Ecuador UEA, specialized in growing and rooting of white mulberry tree and assistance centers that promote sericulture work.

"The complementary character of forces and expertise of the partners strengthen the Project and allow to combine synergies for a successful development", highlights Bach. María Eugenia Suarez, responsible of institutional articulation of the Project.

In 2017, Argentina had approximately 50 silk producers, distributed in La Pampa, Misiones, Jujuy and Buenos Aires; and the most suitable places for the development of this activity are the warm areas, since they are the ones more favorable for the growing of the mulberry plant (Morus alba), the only food for silk worms (Bombyx Mori).

Emitex will take place on April 9 - 11, 2019 in Centro Costa Salguero, Buenos Aires, Argentina.