COIMBATORE: Farmers involved in honey production in Tamil Nadu say they face a big challenge in protecting bees as increasing use of pesticide and fertilizers on flowering plants are taking a toll on bees that play a key role in pollination.
According to sources, Tamil Nadu produces 10 to 12 lakh tonnes of honey per year. But there has been no exports allegedly due to the presence of high water content and pesticide traces. Honey produced in Sikkim, Assam, Himachal, J&K and some north eastern states are sought after instead.
A Vivekanandhan, who maintains an apiary at Periyapothu in Pollachi, said, “I lost over 150 bee colonies in the last six years mainly due to pesticide use on crops in fields around my apiary. Each family comprises a queen bee, around hundred drone bee and 80,000 to one lakh worker bees. Bees ingest chemicals sprayed on flowers, which leads to sudden death.”
Vivekanandhan said that though farmers are keen to engage in honey production, the losses due to bee deaths force them to abandon it. Vivekanandhan maintains around 1,800 honey hives and gets yield up to 5 kg from a honey hive once in 15 days on normal days. He did not get any yield for the last two months due to intense summer heat. Due to lack of flowering plants in the locality, he took all the hives to Ottanchathiram in Dindigul district and managed to save all bees, thanks to large-scale cultivation of moringa trees in the area.
“I spent Rs 30,000 on transportation. I have yet to bring back the hives to my farmland in Pollachi,” he said, while adding that he has to shift the hives more than five times in a year to save the bees from pesticide spread in the surrounding areas.
“The input cost is very minimal for honey production. It would cost Rs 2,400 per hive and maintenance charge would be less than Rs 50 per hive for a month. But the challenge is in saving the bees from the pesticide effect. Due to pesticide impact, there was no export of honey from Tamil Nadu,” he added. C Subramaniam, who has been running an apiary for over 40 years in Marappagoundenpudur in Anaimalai taluk, said he once had more than 1,000 hives. But it has come down to just 200 and there were no bees in some hives. He blames use of pesticides in fields around his apiary for the death of bees.
Jayakumar Lakshmanan, president of Kanniyakumari honey farmers producers committee, said, “The district has more than 25,000 honey production farmers who produce up to 5 lakh tonnes of honey per year. But, the honey sale is only around 50, 000 tonnes. We could not export it due to presence of water content and pesticide impact. The state and central government should procure from us directly and sell honey through cooperative stores.”
When contacted, M Shanthi, Director, Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), said, “To save bees, pesticides should not be used during flowering stage of crops. Farmers and bee keepers should have better coordination and exchange the information about pesticide use.
During abnormal spread of disease, farmers can use bio- control agents and organic controllers instead of pesticides. Bee farmers can close the hives when they come to know about the use of pesticide in surrounding farmlands. Bees look for nectar from 7 am to 1 pm. During the time, farmers can stop the use of pesticide where the hives are kept.”
She said the average consumption of honey in India by an individual is 37ml per month, whereas it is around one kg in developed countries. “By promoting the use of honey, we can focus on protecting bees as well as help to improve pollination,” she said.