Eduardo Portillo

In the early 1980s, María Eugenia Dávila (Venezuelan, b. 1966) and Eduardo Portillo (Venezuelan, b. 1966) started to seriously consider the possibility of developing sericulture in Venezuela. In the Canary Islands, they obtained their first silk worms and upon returning to Venezuela, began a two-year experiment in silkworm cultivation. After their initial trials, they decided that travel to China was necessary to fully immerse themselves in the technical processes of silk production. Fortunately, they were awarded a scholarship from the Chinese Embassy and traveled to that country to study silk cultivation and weaving techniques at the International Center for Tropical Sericulture, South China Agricultural... more.