Beekeeping can contribute a lot to economic dev of country

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ZM Aminul Islam | Published: March 25, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

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JHENIDAH, Mar 23: In an agricultural country like Bangladesh, it is undeniable that beekeeping, an agro-resource, can contribute to economic development greatly.
Though beekeeping is possible in every district of Bangladesh, the districts which are very suitable for the purpose are Sirajganj, Pabna, Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Gazipur, Tangail, Manikganj, Gopalganj, Shariatpur, Madaripur, Faridpur, Jessore, Khulna, Satkhira, Magura, Barguna, Bhola, Patuakhali, Dhaka, Comilla, Kushtia, Meherpur, Sylhet, Habiganj, Rangamati and Khagrachhari.
According to a study, of the 136 species of plants from which the bees collect nectar and pollen kul, mustard, coriander, black cumin, garjon, sajina, litchi, khalisa, sunflower, garan, pashur, kera and bain are mentionable.
Farmer Isa Haque Ali of Tikari village in Jhenidah Sadar upazila told this correspondent that after putting bee-boxes in his mustard field this year he got 30 per cent more yield than that of the previous year because of good pollination by bees.
Md Rafiqul Islam, a litchi gardener of Jamirdiya village of Bhaluka upazila in Mymensingh district said, "If bee-boxes are put in the garden, litchis become bigger in size and sweeter in taste thanks to pollination by bees. Besides, no insecticides are needed.''
There are around 25,000 skilled and unskilled beekeepers and 2,000 bee-farms in Bangladesh. If there remain 50 bee-boxes on an average in each farm, the number of boxes will stand at 1.0 million.
Bangladesh has immense potential to export honey. Meanwhile, demand for honey in the international arena including the Middle East, is increasing widely. Bee-produced goods like honey, jelly, pollen, wax and bee-venom are being used in medicine, food, drinks and cosmetics industries.
Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has started a project titled "Development of Beekeeping through Modern Technology Project'' which is currently under implementation. Skills development training courses for honey hunters, beekeeping skills development courses for interested entrepreneurs and motivational courses for common people including students of schools and colleges are going on under the project.
The amount of honey produced through bee-boxes by mobile beekeepers and derived naturally from the Sundarbans by honey-hunters stood at 6,000 tonnes in 2012 in Bangladesh while it came down to only 4,000 tonnes in 2013, due to climatic change and political turmoil here hampering transportation of boxes, sources said.
They, however, said a good amount of honey would be collected this year (2014).
Of the total amount, 60 per cent to 70 per cent of honey comes from beekeepers as the activities of deriving honey from the Sudarbans by the honey-hunters continue for only around one month. Then with the advent of the rainy season the process is stopped.
The mobile beekeepers can harvest honey for eight months of a year while they are to keep bees alive artificially for nearly four months. In fact, during this time the farmers face acute financial crisis.  
A colony of Apis melifera species requires sugar juice of 250 grams daily. So a beekeeper having a farm of 200 colonies of the spices needs 50 kgs of sugar (250x200 grams).
Deputy Manager, Industries Service Centre, BSCIC, Binerpota, Satkhira Md Abdul Wadud said that if commercial banks then came forward to the beekeepers' assistance and operated credit programmes, a large number of beekeepers would emerge in our country.
For the first time in our country an initiative has been taken up to establish an ultra-modern honey processing plant in Satkhira under the training programmes. Once the factory is established, the beekeepers and honey hunters of Satkhira can market pure honey by processing their derived honey through this pant.
Besides, if quality control and modern packaging are done, demand for Bangladeshi honey will increase in international arena as well.
A BSCIC official said a five-day 'Honey Fair' was held on the BSCIC compound, Motijheel, Dhaka on March 16-20, where 20 stalls were installed for display and sale of BSTI (Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution)-approved honey.
Honey worth nearly Tk 0.4 million to 0.5 million was sold in the fair and BSCIC will arrange a similar fair next year, he added.
Central General Secretary of Beekeepers' Welfare Association Ebadullah Afzal demanded that the proposed honey processing plant in Satkhira be installed soon.
When contacted, Project Director of Development of Beekeeping through Modern Technology Project Khondaker Aminuzzaman said, "It was projected to build a honey processing plant in a hired house at Shyamnagar in Satkhira but to verify the usefulness of establishing the plant in the permanent structure of BSCIC, instead of a hired house, a committee comprising officials of BSCIC and local district administration has been formed. Initiatives will be taken up as per the recommendations of the committee.''
BSCIC Chairman Additional Secretary Shyam Sunder Sikder told the FE: "In the current fiscal year, BSCIC's training programmes are going on in 44 districts. Basic training course will be arranged for 2,000 new entrepreneurs during the ongoing project period. The trainees will be provided with tools like bee-box, honey extracting machines and bee-equipment. The project also includes providing the trainees with loan at a lower rate of interest after trainings for setting up farms.''