KOTTAYAM: In the past decade, amidst the rollercoaster ride of the rubber plantation sector, farmers found an alternative for survival -- apiculture. As the Rubber Board came up to offer training in bee-keeping in 2016, several farmers installed honey bee boxes in the rubber plantations as an alternative source of income. However, a change in the weather conditions coupled with an increase in production cost and the poor market chain system have once again hit the farmers hard.
The untimely rain and extreme weather conditions have taken a toll on the bee farming sector in the state, especially central Travancore, the heartland of rubber plantations. Honey production recorded a steep fall in the previous season (February-March) due to adverse weather conditions, farmers fear further setbacks in the upcoming season in view of untimely rain in September-October.
“In Central Travancore, bees predominantly depend on the sprouting season of rubber trees. The rubber trees sprout new leaves after winter and the buds carry nectar, which serves as a raw material for honey. However, this year, rain started shortly after the sprouting season commenced and lack of nectar affected the formation of larvae,” said Joyce Joseph, a farmer in Pravithanam near Pala.
Around 95% of honey production in Kerala depends on rubber plantations. In the rest of the cases, bees also depend on pollen from flowers, mainly coconut trees. Farmers, however, pointed out that flowers that blossomed were immediately damaged due to unseasonal rain. “As per the standard method, an average of 10kg of honey should be produced from one box of bee hives. However, this was hardly 4.5kg per box in the previous season,” said Joyce, who has been in the field of apiculture for more than four decades.
Apart from changes in climatic conditions, bees being infected by bacteria and viruses have affected the sector badly. “We don’t have adequate facilities to identify new diseases affecting bees.
We badly need an exclusive centre to study the new diseases affecting bees. Farmers should be given proper advice on diseases,” said Biju Joseph, a bee-keeping trainer and breeder in Pala.
Adding to farmers’ woes is the sharp increase in production costs. With unseasonal rain affecting the flowering season, the farmers are forced to feed the bees with sugar syrup. A farmer having 1,700-2,000 colonies, needs at least 10 kg of sugar for feeding the bees during the off-season.
This apart, labour cost has also increased considerably. “There is no proper system to fix the price of honey. The Horticorp procured honey at Rs 185 per kg in the last season. The government should introduce a scientific pricing system for honey,” said a farmer in Ponkunnam.
Farmers said the lack of a proper system for the procurement of honey also adversely affected the sector. They said earlier there were centres of Khadi Board and Horticorp to collect honey from farmers. While the Khadi Commission stopped procurement, Horticorp procures only a limited amount of honey. In the previous season (February–July), Horticorp procured 53,700 kg of honey from farmers.
Meanwhile, 2,295 farmers registered with Horticorp alone produce around 1,475tonnes from 1,49,828 bee colonies across the state. This apart, there are farmers registered with Khadi Board, Khadi Commission, Rubber Board and Kerala Agriculture University. Hence, the gross honey production is much higher. However, no agency holds a consolidated figure of the total number of farmers and honey production in the state. “The Horticorp has the capacity to procure and process up to 35-40 tonnes of honey and to bring them to the market annually. But the gross production is much higher than our capacity,” said B Sunil, general manager, Horticorp.
“The government should ensure a system for procuring honey being produced in the state,” said Aby Ipe, district general secretary of the Karshaka Congress in Kottayam.