Tamil book on beekeeping to release soon

NABARD is extending financial support to several NGOs to implement Tribal Development Projects where beekeeping makes for an important livelihood activity.

NABARD organised the programme with the participation of NGOs to mark the occasion. While delivering the keynote address, Padma Raghunathan, Chief General Manager, highlighted the importance of beekeeping as a livelihood activity and the significant role of bees in agriculture. She also said that a book on beekeeping in Tamil is being prepared by NABARD and it will be shortly released.

Dr MR Srinivasan, Professor and Head, Department of Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, Tirunelveli made a presentation on Honey Bee-Development of Value chain. He explained how bees give us honey and other useful products like Royal Jelly, Bee Pollen, Beeswax, and bee venom, in addition to increasing the yields of fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, and pulses.

The professor also indicated that in India, Uttar Pradesh stands first in honey production with 17,200 tonnes in 2017-18 followed by West Bengal (16,000 tonnes) and Punjab (15,200 tonnes).

As per National Honey Board data, honey production has increased steadily from 51,000 MT during 2006-07 to 115,000 MT during 2018-19.

Per capita consumption of honey is as low as 20 grams in India as Indians consider it as medicine. It is 1.31 kg in Turkey, one of the highest.