Adopt beekeeping to raise income, say experts

Tribune News Service

Solan, September 10

Scientific beekeeping not only substantially augments production of various crops, but also supplements the farm income, said Dr Parvinder Kaushal, Vice-Chancellor of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, during the valedictory function of a 21-day training programme on bee breeding held on the campus.

Thirty bee breeders-cum-progressive beekeepers from 11 districts of the state participated in the programme. Dr Harish Kumar Sharma, event coordinator, said the trainees would be registered as bee breeders and would produce quality queens from selected colonies for their use as well as for sale in the state and region.

Sharma said use of such queens would result in healthy and strong colonies for higher honey production and improved pollination services. He stressed the need to use pollination agreement where responsibilities of beekeepers and farmers are fixed.

Dr Divender Gupta, head of the Department of Entomology, said the AICRP Centre had been rated as the best research centre in the country by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

Dr JN Sharma, Director of Research and nodal officer of the horticulture development programme in the university, called upon farmers and youngsters to become entrepreneurs in bee breeding. He said lack of polliniser proportion and pollinators was one of the limiting factors for low apple productivity in the state. He hoped that the pollination services might improve under the project.

The VC said the promotion of beekeeping would ensure food sustainability and employment generation. He stressed the need to increase bee flora and honey production in the state and development of an international market for monofloral honey.