The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) restarted their Honey Mission program post the announcement of lockdown relaxations. The KVIC has resumed the program from the Chullyu village in Arunachal Pradesh, with the distribution of 250 bee boxes right after the lockdown was relaxed.
Under this Program, KVIC provides opportunities to farmers, youth and rural populace to practice and earn through modern beekeeping. It also provides awareness, training and ‘Bee Boxes’ along with Bee Colonies to the farmers. The mission was launched in August 2017 in line with the ‘Sweet Revolution’ which was launched in 2016 to promote beekeeping and associated activities.
Earlier this year in February VK Saxena, Chairman KVIC, distributed 1000 bee boxes to 100 farmers in Arunachal Pradesh. Saxena said that Arunachal Pradesh has abundance of Flora and Fauna, and has the untapped potential of becoming a truly honey producing state. High altitude honey is rich in antioxidants and hence can be sold at a premium price.
Chullyu produces several high-quality organic vegetables and fruits, including sweet potato, peas, pineapple, peach, plum, almond, litchi, papaya and walnut which provide abundant pollen and nectar to the honeybees. The village is a plastic-free one.
“The tribal population in the village wears mostly Khadi and uses banana leaves for eating and cups and glasses made up of bamboo for drinking purposes. Since there is no use of plastic in the village, it provides a clean pollution free environment conducive for the working of honeybees and producing high-quality honey,” said a statement from KVIC.
The initiative is paralleled with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’’s call for ‘atmanirbharta’ by promoting local industries. The practice of Beekeeping will increase honey production along with other products like bee wax, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom. These products, also, are marketable and can generate good revenue to the villagers without having to migrate to other cities for jobs, added Saxena.
(Feature image source: Khadi India)
