Port Blair, July 24: The Department of Agriculture, A&N Administration, High Value Agriculture Development Agency (HVADA) in association with ICAR- Indian Institute of Horticulture Research, Bengaluru organized a two day’s hands on training programme on ‘Scientific Bee Keeping’ on July 23 & 24, 2024 at Organic Horticulture Farm, Sippighat, South Andaman to upkeep the knowledge and skill in bee keeping.

Bee Keeping by human is primary for honey production. But in modern era, bee keeping is used for crop pollination and collection of it’s by- products. Bees are essential for human life and planet.

The inaugural programme was held on July 23, during which, Shri Ramesh Kumar, Joint Director (Agri) emphasized on the scope and importance of bee keeping. He urged the farmers/SHG/Youth to adopt scientific bee keeping which provides dual benefits to the farmers. Besides honey, bees help in pollination service that enhances the yield to an extent of 25-30 percent & providing the best business opportunity for self-employment, he added.

In her address, the Master Trainer, Dr. Bhagyashree S.N, Scientist, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru, informed that bee keeping is a new avenue for income generation and needs very little start-up investment. She briefed about the topics to be covered viz. Introduction to Bee keeping, tools & equipments used in apiary, benefits of bee keeping, good apiary management practices, pest & diseases of honey bee etc. and providing quality hands on experience to the participants on bee keeping aspects.

Shri Navasakthi, Assistant Director (Agri), also spoke on the occasion and requested the participants to take maximum benefit of the training and utilize it in their field.  Altogether 35 participants including bee keeping farmers/SHGs/Youth and Departmental officials participated in the training programme.