THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The apiculturists in the State must create a procurement network for the better marketing of their produces, State Horticulture Mission Director K Pratapan has said. He was inaugurating the bee-keeping training for apiculturists in the state and one-day seminar on ‘honey procurement and processing’, organised by the Federation of Indigenous Apiculturists (FIA) at YMCA here on Saturday.
The honey produced by bee-farmers in the state are being largely procured by North Indian businessmen and are returned in bottles with their names and huge price tags, he said.
If societies like the FIA take the lead to start a procurement network and a processing plant, large-scale commercial sale of home-made honey is possible. It will in turn bring huge income to the families of bee-farmers who seem to be now satisfied with the meagre returns from bee-keeping, Pratapan said. The Horticulture Mission will render all support for the bee-farmers, he promised.
If a bit more effort is put in, the State has the potential to produce 40 percent more honey than the present production, said S Devanesan, Principal Scientist, Agriculture College.
As per the available data, there are six lakh hectares of rubber plantations and 9.3 lakh hectares of coconut farms in the state where bee-farming can be done. Which means there is no need to look out for food for these bees, as pollen and nectar will be available from coconut and rubber trees respectively.
This will take up the sale of honey to Rs 400 crore, Devanesan said.
He delivered a talk on how to increase the bee colonies while a talk on honey procurement and processing was done by K S Prameela, Associate Professor, Vellayani Agriculture College.
A talk on various financial aids offered to the bee-farmers under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) was given by P Sanjeev, Development Officer, Khadi and Village Industries Commission. The seminar was attended by apiculturists from across the state, including members of women self-help groups. Following the seminar, the general body of the FIA met as part of their first anniversary. Future activities of FIA was charted out in the meeting.