ReturnBrazil, having already staked its claim as a force in cattle ranching, fostering the growth of meat giants such as JBS and Marfrig, is now turning to making a name in farming insects.
The South American country's silk industry is to see production growth accelerate to 20% next year, from 8% in 2011, Michael Cordonnier, an expert in the country's agriculture, said.
The expansion will solidify Brazil's position as the second-biggest exporter, after China, of the fibre, spun from the cocoons of Bombyx moths.
Indeed, demand for the country's silk "is outpacing production", Dr Cordonnier said, helping lift prices of the raw fibre by more than one-third to R$10.50 a kilogramme over the past year.
India decline
Demand is being spurred by the quality of Brazilian silk, besides the popularity of the fibre in Asian countries which are enjoying relatively strong economic growth, besides the legacy Western markets of, in particular, Europe and Japan.
Furthermore, the silk industry is finding growth market in medicine, which uses silk protein during surgery for sealing wounds and is attempting, in Japan, to develop genetically modified silkworms to make diagnostic proteins.
Meanwhile, India, historically one of the forces in the industry, has seen its industry setback first by price controls, which prompted many farmers to switch to other crops from the mulberry trees required for feeding Bombyx caterpillars, and then by a relaxation of import duties.
In India, the price of Bombyx cocoons has halved over the past eight months, according to the government in Karnataka, India's top silk-producing state.
Cash flow advantage
In Brazil, the industry is still small relative to the country's better-known agricultural sectors, with the country growing some 13,000 hectares of mulberry trees, tended by less than 5,000 farmers.
However, that number is growing, with Nova Esperanca, one municipality of the state of Parana, which grows 90% of Brazilian silk, seeing 50 new silkworm houses established in 2011.
Besides the rise in raw silk prices, "one of the advantages of silk production is that it generates a monthly income whereas the income from cattle and sugarcane is generally on an annual basis", Dr Cordonnier, at Soybean and Corn Advisor, said.
