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| Beekeeping can provide job to 1, 25,000 unemployed youth in Kashmir | | If corruption is eliminated at Lalmandi, government schemes can come as boon to farmers | | Early Times report
SRINAGAR, Aug 24: Unemployment has been a pressing problem in Kashmir and it has only aggravated the political turmoil in the state. Every year the number of educated youth in the Valley witnesses an increase and with them swells the problem of unemployment. These educated but unemployed youth stay jobless because the government jobs are very few and the private sector is almost non-existent in the Valley.
In such a grim scenario, beekeeping can be a vibrant source of employment in Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir--a state which constitutes one of the most important beekeeping zones in India, has a history of beekeeping.
Kashmir not only fulfils the prerequisites (availability of raw material, skilled labour and consumer demand of the product) for the honey industry but scientists associated with apiculture here believe that if the policy-makers focus on this sector, the problem of unemployment in the state can be tackled to a larger extent.
Dr Manzoor Ahmad Parray, senior scientist working in the entomology division of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) says that excluding the area under cereals and other crops that are self-pollinated or wind pollinated, there are about two Lakh hectares of land under oil seeds and horticulture crops in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Taking into account recommendations of National Commission on Agriculture to have modest number of three bee colonies per hectare, Jammu and Kashmir needs about 6, 00,000 colonies," Dr Parray said. As against this demand, the state has few thousand colonies at present.
If the government supports the industry, a tentative calculation done by the scientists at SKUAST believes that 6,00,000 honey bee colonies, at an average of 18 -20 kilograms per colony during spring can produce 45,000 tons of honey annually. "This will fetch about Rs 6.75 billion annually at a modest rate of Rs 150 per kilogram. Besides producing large quantities of bee wax used in the manufacture of more than 300 items and is on high demand," Dr Parray said, adding that if 20 colonies are allotted to each unemployed youth, it will generate employment opportunities for 1,25,000 persons. "For fabricating 6 Lakh bee colonies at 50 hives per artisan per year, will require 50,000 artisan days."
Dr Parray, who has worked extensively on the project and has many publications on the subject to his credit, says that with due course of time, if the plan of honey industry is implemented in Jammu and Kashmir, a need will also arise for about 460 honey houses where honey will be tested, processed, bottled, stored and marketed.
"Each honey house can handle about 20 tons of produce and can provide permanent employment to 150 persons. Fabrication of apiary applications like bee veils, gloves, smokers, queen excluders, honey extractors, solar wax extractors, etc, will also guaranty employment to many a large number of unemployed people. In addition to the direct avenues adequate bee activity would help in improving crop yields by nearly 100 per cent," Dr Parray added.
Giving estimates of year 2000 and 2001, the senior scientist said that there were 15,000 colonies in modern hives with annual honey production for 200 tons valued at Rs 5 million providing subsistence to 168 full time and 359 part time beekeepers in the valley.
Not only the direct employment can be provided by the honey industry but the farmers associated with different sectors can yield better dividends of the industry. Jammu and Kashmir's economy is dependent on agriculture and the honey bees play a vital role in pollination of agricultural and horticultural crops. According to Dr Parray, the main significance of honey bees is in pollination whereas hive products such as honey, bees wax etc. are of secondary value.
"This is evident from the fact that income from agriculture by use of honey bees in crop pollination to exploit the yield potential of crops is 15-20 limes greater than their value as honey and wax producers. Research finding have amply proved that apple, cole-crops, mustard and alfalfa production can be increased by 180 to 695, 100 to 300, 13 to 222 and 23to 1973 per cent respectively by providing optimum number of honey bee colonies as pollinators," revealed the apiculture scientist. SKUAST findings have shown that almond production can be increased from 33-47 per cent by providing adequate number of pollinators.
However, all said and done, the honey industry which is still in its infancy in the state faces some grave problems like non-availability of essential materials and bee colonies at the proper lime, lack of bee training facilities to beekeepers, lack of bee nurseries, disease investigation facilities, marketing facilities besides indiscriminate use of pesticides and rising cost of bee-hives believes.
Notably, a recent controversy generated by some news reports that claimed of presence of antibiotic in honey across India, had a terrible impact on honey business in the country. The scientists at SKUAST had written to the Vice Chancellor of the university regarding their apprehensions of disease epidemics with a potential to destroy the bee colonies in Kashmir.
Kashmir Apiaries is a Punjab-based company which deals with apiculture on large scale and exports different bee products to different countries. "This business house moves its bee colonies to Kashmir and other parts of the country around the year. Hence there is greater apprehension of disease epidemics. In order to safeguard the Kashmir Apiaries bee colonies, they use terramycin powder at the rate of 0.25 to 0.40 grams in five litres of sugar syrup or liquid terramycin at the rate of 15 ml per 100 litres of sugar syrup or streptomycin at the rate of 0.05 to 0.15 grams per litre of sugar syrup as a preventive measure, which may be the reason of contamination of their honey. They have used our trade name," the scientists have written with concern to the SKUAST VC.
On the other hand, in 2005-06, Kashmir honey industry suffered a huge jolt with 26000 bee colonies being killed by the parasitic mite (Varroa destructor) which had assumed epidemic proportions. Dr Parray said that the bee colonies were treated with formic acid which is already found as a natural ingredient in honey and is not a public health concern. "This parasite attacked apis meliferabees and wiped out its over 70 per cent stock resulting reduction into pollination efficiency worth millions of rupees and reduced honey production worth crores of rupees," Dr Parray said.
The state department of agriculture is making all out efforts to revive the industry and providing assistance to the beekeepers through a centrally sponsored scheme, Technology Mission, which is under implementation in Kashmir Division from 2003-04.
According to the data available with the department of agriculture, the department has last year in March distributed 107 beekeeping units among unemployed educated youth of Kashmir. And with this the department started a national level scheme Rashtriya Krishi Vikar Yojana to increase honey production in the state.
"There is a tremendous response to the beekeeping in Valley. Under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna, we give 90 percent subsidy that means Rs 20, 000 per unit of beekeeping. In each unit a beekeeper is provided with 10 colonies of honey bees which, if all goes well, can fetch him 100 kilograms of honey in a season. This means he can earn from Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per season," said Abdul Rahim Samoon, Apiculture Development Officer who looks after entomology Division of the state Agriculture Department.
Samoon said that an unemployed person is supposed to contribute Rs 2360 for his unit and the rest will be paid by the department. "If the beekeeper manages the unit well and the weather remains good, he can go for multiplication of his colonies and the same can fetch him a good livelihood," Samoon asserted.
However, notwithstanding all the brilliant potential and prospects, people associated with agriculture and apiculture have their own tales of tribulation. "Agriculture Department has crossed all limits of inefficiency, corruption and callousness in the last three or four years", complained Abdur Rashid Dar of Narkara, Budgam. He alleged that none of the farmers would get anything from seeds and seedlings to implements and polygreen house until the palms of the officials are greased.
Even the recommendations of Minister and senior bureaucrats are ignored. If anybody gets a political or bureaucratic intervention, he is made to bleed through the nose. Farmers are asked to deposit Rs 15,000 in advance and told that Rs 12,000 would be finally returned to them. They are made to suffer for months", complained Dar who claimed that highhandedness and lack of accountability had become order of the day in the department.
"Officials, particularly a lady scientist, at the directorate have been fleecing everybody from their subordinate junior officials to the labours engaged for farms and the poor farmers. Funds worth Lakhs of Rupees have been swindled and wages have been denied to scores of poor labours engaged at Narkara and other farms", added another farmer of Narkara village. He said that incumbent Director was from a different service and lately inducted into KAS and had no knowledge of the technical subject.
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