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.”
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- The training concluded with distribution of scientific bee
boxes to the participants.
