School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagaland University organises training on scientific beekeeping

Farmers and resource persons posed for a photograph after the training on scientific beekeeping in Rungzu village.

• DIMAPUR — TheAll India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) under Entomology department of School of Agricultural Sciences: Nagaland University (SAS, NU), Medziphema campus, conducted series trainings on scientific beekeeping with stinging and stingless bees for better income generation and pollination on the theme “Bee ready for better tomorrow.”
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• The trainings were conducted in Medziphema and Pherima villages under Chümoukedima district, Pungalwa and Beisumpuikam villages under Peren district and Chesezu and Rungzu under Phek district from February 17 to the 26th.
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• An update from the university stated that a total of 260 farmers of the state were trained held at different places. The meliponiaries and apiaries of the farmers in the villages were also visited to inculcate the scientific adoption of different beekeeping practices among the farmers through demonstrations of rearing technologies.
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• Different topics including selection of sites for setting up an apiary or meliponiary unit, selection of good quality nucleus stock, plantation of promising bee flora, faunal diversity of bees-global, national and regional, identification of different bee species, management of apiaries and meliponiaries, migration of bees, honey and other bee products and their diversification, quality production and marketing of bee products and role of pollination in crop management and ecosystem sustenance were discussed.
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• The resource persons of the technical sessions were Dr Avinash Chauhan, scientist and PI, AICRP HB&P, department of Entomology, SAS, Nagaland University; Dr. Otto S Awomi, lecturer at LBC; and Dr. Shashidhar Viraktamath, scientist emeritus, UAS, Bangalore.
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• The resource persons have urged the farmers to adopt scientific beekeeping to enhance their incomes which is restricted with traditional way of rearing honeybees. They also highlighted the role of bees in the conservation of flora and fauna and in the maintenance of diversity.
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• Altogether, 20 lectures were given during the training programmes along with hands-on trainings on practical aspects of beekeeping. The developed technologies in apiculture were also demonstrated by the resource persons and the technical staff of AICRP HB&P, where the transfer and multiplication of stinging and stingless bees, mass multiplication of stingless bees, scientific hives, management of swarming and pests etc were explained to the participants.
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• The training concluded with distribution of scientific bee boxes to the participants.