Mulberry
Best used for
Formal shawls, saris, apparel
Lustre
96
Strength
82
Warmth
55
Priority Sector
Nepal Silk —
the gold of the Himalayas.
HFMN has prioritized silk as a strategic national sector connecting agriculture, handloom, rural employment, women's participation, green industry, eco-tourism, Nepal-origin branding and export.
mulberry
silkworm
cocoon
reel
yarn
dye
loom
shawl
export
Potrait 01
Reeled yarn
The Story
Why silk, why now, why Nepal.
Silk sits at the meeting point of everything HFMN was built to do — agriculture and craft, women's work and cooperative economy, forest and factory, village and export market. A single ropani of mulberry can employ a household year-round. Ten thousand ropani builds a rural silk economy.
Nepal has the altitude, the mulberry-friendly climate and the weaving lineage to make silk one of its flagship sustainable exports. What it hasn't had, until now, is the coordination. That is what the National Silk Programme is for.
The National Narrative
A Thread Across Nepal.
One filament — from a mulberry leaf in the eastern hills to a finished textile in a global market. Follow the thread through the eight stages of Nepal's silk value chain.
-
01
Stage 01Mulberry Farm
Tokha · Panauti · Dang
Terraced plantations feed the silkworm and anchor rural livelihoods.
-
02
Stage 02Silkworm
Rearing houses
Farmers rear silkworms on fresh mulberry leaves through five instars.
-
03
Stage 03Cocoon
Sericulture units
Spun in a single unbroken filament — the raw beginning of silk.
-
04
Stage 04Yarn
Reeling & spinning
Cocoons are reeled and spun into fine, lustrous Nepal silk yarn.
-
05
Stage 05Dye House
Natural colour ateliers
Botanical dyes — madder, indigo, walnut — colour the yarn.
-
06
Stage 06Loom
Bhaktapur · Palpa · Terhathum
Master weavers thread the warp and weave heritage patterns by hand.
-
07
Stage 07Finished Product
Ateliers & studios
Fabrics become shawls, apparel and interior textiles.
-
08
Stage 08Market
Nepal · Global
Traceable, Nepal-origin textiles reach designers and buyers worldwide.
Mulberry to market
The full silk value chain, under one national programme.
Mulberry → Silkworm → Cocoon → Raw Silk → Yarn → Handloom → Finished Product → Market.
National Silk Industry Program
The value chain
Mulberry Plantation → Mulberry Leaf → Silkworm → Cocoon → Raw Silk → Silk Yarn → Handloom Fabric → Finished Product → Domestic & Export Market
Main themes:
- ◆ Revival of Nepal's silk sector
- ◆ Large-scale mulberry plantation
- ◆ Farmer and cooperative participation
- ◆ Cocoon production
- ◆ Reeling and spinning
- ◆ Handloom and weaving linkage
- ◆ Silk product development
- ◆ Nepal Silk & Himalayan Silk branding
- ◆ Export market development
10,000 Ropani Silk Cluster Model
Each 10,000 ropani silk cluster is presented as a complete rural silk economy — a self-contained sericulture ecosystem.
- ◆ Mulberry plantation
- ◆ Farmer and cooperative groups
- ◆ Silkworm rearing units
- ◆ Cocoon production
- ◆ Cocoon collection and grading center
- ◆ Reeling and spinning facility
- ◆ Yarn and weaving linkage
- ◆ Handloom production
- ◆ Training and demonstration center
- ◆ Eco-silk tourism component
- ◆ Quality control system
- ◆ Branding and market linkage through UTCN
400,000 Ropani National Silk Vision.
HFMN and its ecosystem envision approximately forty 10,000-ropani clusters spanning Nepal's hill and Terai regions — a coordinated national programme to make silk one of the country's flagship sustainable exports.
40
Clusters envisioned
400k
Total ropani
10k
Ropani per cluster
7
Provinces linked
National Silk Conference (Annual)
HFMN's flagship national platform bringing together government, farmers, cooperatives, investors, banks, insurance companies, researchers, technical experts, handloom producers, development partners and international collaborators to revive and scale Nepal's silk industry.
SESSION 01
Sericulture Science
SESSION 02
Silk Processing & Weaving
SESSION 03
Policy, Finance & Market
The Silk Almanac
Cocoon to cloth, by weight.
A living conversion story — mulberry leaves become worms, worms become cocoons, cocoons become yarn, and yarn becomes cloth. Every stage carries its own weight, wastage and value.
Leaf
1 kg leaf
feeds ~50 silkworms
Leaf
Worm
50 worms
spin ~50 cocoons
Worm
Cocoon
50 cocoons
≈ 40 g raw silk
Cocoon
Reel
40 g silk
≈ 400 m of yarn
Reel
Dye
400 m yarn
colour-fast, botanical
Dye
Weave
1 shawl
80 × 200 cm, hand-woven
Weave
Three silks, one country
The silks Nepal weaves.
Mulberry
Eri
Best used for
Warm wraps, winter apparel
Lustre
60
Strength
78
Warmth
92
Tussar
Best used for
Textured furnishings, stoles
Lustre
74
Strength
88
Warmth
68
The sericulture year
A cluster's year, month by month.
Twelve Nepali months, five kinds of work. Each card shows the month, the season it falls in, and what the silk cluster is doing — from planting the mulberry to shipping the finished cloth.
Plant
Rear
Reel
Weave
Market
Month 01
Plant
Baisakh
Apr–May · Spring
Mulberry saplings established with the first rains.
Month 02
Plant
Jestha
May–Jun · Late spring
Field pruning and irrigation checks.
Month 03
Rear
Ashadh
Jun–Jul · Early monsoon
Monsoon rearing rooms opened; first crop of worms.
Month 04
Rear
Shrawan
Jul–Aug · Monsoon
Second rearing crop; leaf harvest at peak.
Month 05
Rear
Bhadra
Aug–Sep · Late monsoon
Cocoon spinning; collection begins.
Month 06
Reel
Ashwin
Sep–Oct · Post-monsoon
Cocoon grading and reeling into raw silk.
Month 07
Reel
Kartik
Oct–Nov · Autumn
Spinning fine yarn; dye lots prepared.
Month 08
Weave
Mangsir
Nov–Dec · Early winter
Warp beams dressed; weaving cycles begin.
Month 09
Weave
Poush
Dec–Jan · Winter
Winter weaving — shawls and wraps.
Month 10
Weave
Magh
Jan–Feb · Late winter
Finishing, washing, quality control.
Month 11
Market
Falgun
Feb–Mar · Early spring
National Silk Conference and buyer meets.
Month 12
Market
Chaitra
Mar–Apr · Spring
UTCN retail cycles and export shipments.
“In one season, silk went from a hobby to a household income line.”
Rearer · Nawalparasi silk cluster