SHILLONG: Chairman of Farmers Commission, KN Kumar has informed that the central government has approved Rs 10 crores for the establishment of Integrated Bee Development Center (IBDC)
Addressing a meeting of bee keepers of East Khasi Hills District in the presence of Agriculture Department officers and Director of National Bee Board, Dr. B.L. Saraswat on Tuesday, Kumar said the fund is being sanctioned under the Article 275 (1) from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Speaking about the potential of bee-keeping in the state, he said that over 7000 individuals have been trained in honey bee-rearing and bee-keeping and the production of honey bee has gone up in the state.
He added that the state has marketed honey to European markets as well as in America.
However, Kumar said that the state had not been able to expand honey bee production due to problems which include excessive consumption of pesticides, climate change also has its affects as bees have to travel further to procure nectar.
Scientific bee keeping stressed: Saraswat in his speech said that he aims to promote scientific bee keeping which will in a way enhance the livelihood of the farmers and bee keepers.
“The main constraint for India is that we are not adopting scientific method of bee keeping. Bee keeping is a gold mine, we only have to adopt proper management,” he said.
Having visited some bee keeping areas in Garo Hills, he said that North East has very good potential for bee keeping.
He highlighted that the main honey bee species in Meghalaya is Trigona and he decided to develop a special package and project it to the world. He said, “I am working in it.”
With Garo Hills affected with the elephant menace, Saraswat went on to add that human-elephant conflict can be minimized through adopting scientific bee keeping.
