Honey farming in Bangladesh
Nehal Adil | Saturday, 5 March 2011
Nehal Adil
The Sundarbans, the world's largest mangroves forest, was Bangladesh's main honey producing centre. But it was devastated by the mighty hurricane Sidr. Honey in the Sundarbans is collected in the wild by the hunter gatherers who brave the mighty Royal Bengal Tigers. Then it would be exported to Dhaka for one and half dollars a kilo. SIDR raised the price three-fold putting it beyond the purchasing power of the middle class, the major honey consumer. Very little honey is exported abroad, I was told. Now some innovative farmers are taking initiative to overcome this impasse and even export honey by commercial honey farming. It was started in Bogra region which is well-known for its agricultural development. Bee hives are being planted in mustard seed fields where the bees produce honey. I was told in the Madhu Mela (Honey Fair) at the National Press Club by a honey farmer that he had three hundred roving bee hives that he takes to different parts of the country varying the seasons. It has tripled the income of honey farmers. A number of commercial farms are engaged in it. The banks are providing easy loan, I was told. But yet the farmers find it difficult to make both ends meet. It is expected that Bangladesh could turn very shortly world's leading honey producer through commercial honey farming. Honey farming is taking shape also in Sylhet, Jessore, Munshiganj and Comilla. No special land is needed for honey farming. The honey hives are placed in the midst of cultivated fields where food plants are grown. They are also placed in mango and guava groves. The unemployment rate among women in Bangladesh is very high. In fact, they are unfortunately identified as the most unproductive segment of the population. When the male bread earner dies, they are virtually thrown in the street. It is this segment of the population which has mostly benefited. Commercial honey farmers are making their gains as Ayesha, a social worker, who made a survey in Bogra region observed. She had worked with a German aid organisation that introduced honey farming in the Gorai region of Tangail. Poet and philosopher late Ahmed Sofa had taken initiative to that. Late Sofa was a critic of Dr Yunus and Dr Zafrullah for spreading poverty rather than eliminating it by microcredit. He thought microcredit to the poorest of the poor did not enhance production or create resources. This led to the self-annihilation of the poor without productive activity. He thought it could create death trap. He thought honey farming would open a new vista. Every year Madhu Mela, Honey Fair, is held at the National Press Club to herald Basanta, the spring. In ancient India, honey was the symbol of love. As the old culture is revived through the Pitha Utsab or Cake Festival, Madhu Mela or Honey Fair is also getting popular. It is a boon for commercial honey farms. Masud, a student of agriculture, felt that the age-old honey culture should not be export-oriented. He wants total ban on honey export. Fortunately most honey farmers do not know how to export honey to foreign countries. They sit with honey jars in Elephant Road or Shahbagh. But they make little sale. Middle class consumers do not buy honey from street but from super markets. They prefer well-packed and well-preserved foreign honey. Ministry of Agriculture should take comprehensive measure for development of honey farming. It should not be left to only market forces and NGOs. In ancient time, honey was also used as medicine. We need honey for healthy population and longevity, I was told by an eighty-year-old Ayurvedic doctor. In his time, honey would be collected from forest like his herbs. They were God's gift. I told him everything was God's gift even technology. He looked at the sky scrappers and wondered if there could be a bee hive over them. I thought that the old man had logic. Commercial honey farming is part of our development reality. We ought to enhance it. But how? By bringing in more land under honey farming and horticulture alone, we cannot achieve it. We need to deploy trained and educated manpower. The Bawalis, the honey collectors of the Sundarbans, were trained for generations together. There was no school for honey farming. Would the Agriculture University open a special faculty for that? But the best would be to revive the Sidr-affected Sundarbans under environment protection scheme. So far no foreign fund has come as climate change compensation and Sidr devastation. We should revive the Sundarbans with our own funds. I think that could be more important than running a global campaign to declare the Sundarbans as a natural wonder. If honey is produced on a massive scale that would generate enough fund to meet the cost. That could be a wonder itself.
The Sundarbans, the world's largest mangroves forest, was Bangladesh's main honey producing centre. But it was devastated by the mighty hurricane Sidr. Honey in the Sundarbans is collected in the wild by the hunter gatherers who brave the mighty Royal Bengal Tigers. Then it would be exported to Dhaka for one and half dollars a kilo. SIDR raised the price three-fold putting it beyond the purchasing power of the middle class, the major honey consumer. Very little honey is exported abroad, I was told. Now some innovative farmers are taking initiative to overcome this impasse and even export honey by commercial honey farming. It was started in Bogra region which is well-known for its agricultural development. Bee hives are being planted in mustard seed fields where the bees produce honey. I was told in the Madhu Mela (Honey Fair) at the National Press Club by a honey farmer that he had three hundred roving bee hives that he takes to different parts of the country varying the seasons. It has tripled the income of honey farmers. A number of commercial farms are engaged in it. The banks are providing easy loan, I was told. But yet the farmers find it difficult to make both ends meet. It is expected that Bangladesh could turn very shortly world's leading honey producer through commercial honey farming. Honey farming is taking shape also in Sylhet, Jessore, Munshiganj and Comilla. No special land is needed for honey farming. The honey hives are placed in the midst of cultivated fields where food plants are grown. They are also placed in mango and guava groves. The unemployment rate among women in Bangladesh is very high. In fact, they are unfortunately identified as the most unproductive segment of the population. When the male bread earner dies, they are virtually thrown in the street. It is this segment of the population which has mostly benefited. Commercial honey farmers are making their gains as Ayesha, a social worker, who made a survey in Bogra region observed. She had worked with a German aid organisation that introduced honey farming in the Gorai region of Tangail. Poet and philosopher late Ahmed Sofa had taken initiative to that. Late Sofa was a critic of Dr Yunus and Dr Zafrullah for spreading poverty rather than eliminating it by microcredit. He thought microcredit to the poorest of the poor did not enhance production or create resources. This led to the self-annihilation of the poor without productive activity. He thought it could create death trap. He thought honey farming would open a new vista. Every year Madhu Mela, Honey Fair, is held at the National Press Club to herald Basanta, the spring. In ancient India, honey was the symbol of love. As the old culture is revived through the Pitha Utsab or Cake Festival, Madhu Mela or Honey Fair is also getting popular. It is a boon for commercial honey farms. Masud, a student of agriculture, felt that the age-old honey culture should not be export-oriented. He wants total ban on honey export. Fortunately most honey farmers do not know how to export honey to foreign countries. They sit with honey jars in Elephant Road or Shahbagh. But they make little sale. Middle class consumers do not buy honey from street but from super markets. They prefer well-packed and well-preserved foreign honey. Ministry of Agriculture should take comprehensive measure for development of honey farming. It should not be left to only market forces and NGOs. In ancient time, honey was also used as medicine. We need honey for healthy population and longevity, I was told by an eighty-year-old Ayurvedic doctor. In his time, honey would be collected from forest like his herbs. They were God's gift. I told him everything was God's gift even technology. He looked at the sky scrappers and wondered if there could be a bee hive over them. I thought that the old man had logic. Commercial honey farming is part of our development reality. We ought to enhance it. But how? By bringing in more land under honey farming and horticulture alone, we cannot achieve it. We need to deploy trained and educated manpower. The Bawalis, the honey collectors of the Sundarbans, were trained for generations together. There was no school for honey farming. Would the Agriculture University open a special faculty for that? But the best would be to revive the Sidr-affected Sundarbans under environment protection scheme. So far no foreign fund has come as climate change compensation and Sidr devastation. We should revive the Sundarbans with our own funds. I think that could be more important than running a global campaign to declare the Sundarbans as a natural wonder. If honey is produced on a massive scale that would generate enough fund to meet the cost. That could be a wonder itself.