By H H Mohrmen
Since it was declared as one of the missions in the IBDLP program, it is heartening to note that quite a number of people had opted for apiculture and beekeeping as a livelihood activity in the West Jaintia hills district. Beekeeping has been a traditional activity in the rural areas, but it was merely a hobby for some and was never considered as another potential livelihood option. People simply keep one or two colonies of bees for self consumption and commercial apiculture was never in the farmers’ mind. But after the Basin’s intervention people began to take the activity seriously.
It is also heartening to see how a one-week training on beekeeping can change the mindset of traditional beekeepers that used to keep one or two beehives to consider it as a livelihood option. The training has been able to change a traditional beekeeper to suddenly think of ways to commercially exploit the huge potential that apiculture offers. The three stories are case studies which testify to the fact that with training and right support, traditional beekeepers had changed their mindsets on apiculture.
Sanki Shylla is a resident of Їongnoh village which falls under the Thadlaskein Development Block of West Jaintia Hills District. He is a farmer by profession and during lean season he used to engage himself in coal mining business. In the early part of 2013 he met the President of the Society of Urban and Rural Empowerment (SURE) who informed him about the training in Beekeeping at RRTC Umran and asked if he was interested in the training.
Like anywhere else in Jaintia hills beekeeping is also a tradition at the Їongnoh area where few individuals keep one or two colonies of bees just for their own consumption. Sanki already has two traditional beehives which he also kept just for his own use. Taking the opportunity he along with few friends from Їongnoh and Moosakhia accepted the offer and went for the training on bee-keeping.
The one week he spent at Umran had changed his views of the activity. On returning from the training he immediately went on a buying spree and approached all the traditional beekeepers in the villages around Їongnoh to sell their beehives to him. In a matter of three months he had been able to acquire more than 30 traditional hives which also changed him from a mere traditional beekeeper who started with two colonies to a serious entrepreneur.
Field Coordinator of SURE later suggested that he register himself at the Entrepreneur Facilitation Centre Thadlaskein and few months later in Janauary 2016 he was again sent for training at Mawlai, Shillong by the Basin Development Unit (BDU) West Jaintia hills and the District Commerce and Industries Centre, Jowai which is a nodal agency for apiculture mission. On completion of the second training on beekeeping he had gained more knowledge and is confident about moving ahead and without any hesitation decided to upscale his activity.
SURE then was able to help link him with Canara Bank, Ladthalaboh Jowai and with the support of BDU West Jaintia hills he was able to avail a loan from the Bank. Larry Shabong Branch Manager of the bank said that on March, 17, 2016 the bank sanctioned a loan of rupees 93, 000 in his favour with no investment from the partner. He only needed to indicate in the boxes that the project is hypothecated to Canara Bank, Jowai.
With the credit offered by the Bank he now has 49 bee-hives and 27 modern beehives which will help him collect honey in a modern way. Of the 27 modern beehives 22 boxes were bought with the loan from the Bank and supplied by RRTC, Umran and 5 boxes he arrange from himself. And of the 49 beehives he now has, 28 are modern beehives and 21 colonies are still kept in traditional beehives. Through the bank loan, RRTC also supplied him one extractor and other utensil needed for collection of honey. Sanki is equipped with skill and tools and he can now collect honeybee in a modern way which will also help increase his production.
Another successful partner is Ngeitsuk Suchiang from Ynñiawkmai village which falls under Laskeiñ development Block of West Jaintia hills district. After he registered himself in the EFC Laskeiñ, Ngeitsuk was also sent for one week training in beekeeping by the BDU, Jowai at RRTC Umran. Ngeitsuk was earlier involved in coal business and after the training he was also convinced that he can take beekeeping as an alternative livelihood activity. The opportunity came at the right time for him because the NGT ban was beginning to have an impact on his earnings and for him the training was like a silver lining in the dark sky. Few months after the training he invested one lakh rupees from his own pocket and spent the money in buying planks and other materials needed for making modern bee boxes.
Shahjop Khongjoh from Moosakhia village which falls under the Amlarem subdivision is perhaps the first person in the area who had taken the business of keeping bees seriously and had been keeping more than thirty colonies of bees for many years together. During the time when Sanki and Ngeitsuk started to have some interest in the activity, Shahjop now has more than thirty traditional beehives in his kitty. Like Sanki, Shahjop has already undergone two trainings one at Umran and another in Mawlai but the only difference between the two is that Shahjop is reluctant to change to modern beekeeping methods. He is comfortable with traditional beekeeping system using beehives made by carving a log than the modern bee box. He is also averse to taking any loan from financial institutions.
The three individuals who come from three different parts of the district have their own stories, but the one narrative that all three beekeeping partners have in common is the fact that the loss of forest cover in the area and in the vicinity of their village has affected honey production in their areas. This is a matter of grave concern for them, in Moosakhia where broom sticks had replaced trees and forests in many parts of the village and honeybee production in the areas has drastically declined.
In Їongnoh too forest cover is dwindling due to coal mining and logging. This has affected honey production in the area and Sanki is convinced that if we continue destroying the forests the first casualty would be the bees and the honey production. In the Laksein block also people continue to cut trees for commercial purposes and this has impacted the bees and ultimately honey production in the area.
Bees or pollinators have an intricate connection with the forest and the environment. One cannot exist without the other, so for the business to thrive forest cover in the area needs to be kept intact. Beekeepers have now realised that their livelihood activity depends to a large extent on the kind of forests that exist in and around the villages or their absence. The survival of this one livelihood activity that our people have practiced since time immemorial depends so much on how we can conserve forests and the environment around us.
If the government considers promoting apiculture seriously, then it also needs to come up with a plan to help people plant flowering trees or fruit orchards in and around the vicinity of their villages. The government could also consider encouraging people to grow flowering crops like mustard and others. This will enable people to have two livelihood options at the same time.