Shopian: In line with the national level celebration of ‘World Bee Day’, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shopian organised a programme here Saturday.
A statement issued here said that Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Shopian, Yar Ali Khan presided over the programme.
The day is celebrated every year with the aim to create awareness about the significance of bees and beekeeping. This year’s theme was ‘Bee engaged in pollinator-friendly agriculture production, focusing on actions for restoring, supporting, and enhancing the role of these pollinators’.
Khan underlined the contribution of bees in production of food crops by way of facilitating the process of pollination.
He stressed on the need to organise the training programmes on scientific beekeeping.
Khan also drew attention to making beekeeping an integral part of farming to increase the farm income.
He said that efforts were being made by the department to popularise bee farming through branding, marketing, and formation of FPOs in Shopian district.
Chief Agriculture Officer Shopian Farooq Ahmad Reshi highlighted the importance of bee keeping in Shopain saying that the district was known for its horticulture crops and bees play a significant role in pollination of fruit crops and greatly increases yield.
He advised the farmers to avoid the spray of plant protection chemicals in bee active areas and promote the growing of such crops and plants that attract honey bees.
Reshi also encouraged the rural youth to come forward and become beekeeping entrepreneurs under different CSs and HADP programmes by engaging in the activities like production of honey, bee-pollen, bee wax, bee venom and processing branding and marketing of honey besides bee breeding.
