01
Mulberry
Farm planning
10,000-ropani cluster blocks are laid out with rearing sheds, water and cooperative offices designed in from day one — not bolted on later.
§ 04 · Priority SectorSection 04
Nepal Silk — the gold of the Himalayas.
HFMN has prioritized silk as a strategic national sector capable of connecting agriculture, handloom, rural employment, women's participation, green industry, eco-tourism, Nepal-origin branding and export development.
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 Complete Value Chain
From Leaf to Market
Every step — from mulberry plantation to finished silk product — creating value at each stage of Nepal's silk economy.
Mulberry Plantation
Mulberry Leaf
Silkworm
Cocoon
Raw Silk
Silk Yarn
Handloom Fabric
Finished Product
Domestic & Export
Mulberry to market
The full silk value chain, under one national programme.
Mulberry → Silkworm → Cocoon → Raw Silk → Yarn → Handloom → Finished Product → Market.
4.1
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
4.2
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
4.3
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
4.4
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
In Practice
Silk, the way a cluster does it.
Everything HFMN does — from a mulberry seedling to a finished bolt of cloth — is stewarded by a real cooperative, a real weaver and a real ledger. This is a snapshot.
02
Rearing & reeling
Household economy
Silkworm rearing is scoped for women-led households, with cocoon collection and reeling paid at published rates per kilogram.
03
Weaving & market
National showcase
Cluster silk is woven, finished and channelled through UTCN retail and the National Silk Conference — closing the loop from mulberry to buyer.
“In one season, silk went from a hobby to a household income line.