Five-day Basic Beekeeping Training Course began at village Mandiani

Ludhiana, March 8, 2016: A five-day Basic Beekeeping Training Course began at the village Mandiani, district Ludhiana today. The Department of Entomology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has organized the course for the scheduled castes under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY) scheme.

Dr R.S. Gill, Head, Department of Entomology, said, “Punjab is a leading state in the country in honey production.” Beekeeping is a lucrative subsidiary occupation which can give additional benefits to the farmers, he added. Dr Gill further said that the resource persons would dwell on importance, scope, economics and prospects of beekeeping during the course.

Dr P.K. Chhuneja, Incharge (Apiculture Unit) and a Course Director, said, “Beekeeping is a viable option for small and marginal farmers under diversification of agriculture. This course aims at enabling the trainees to have livelihood security.” About the course, he said the experts would provide tips on how to start beekeeping and delve on honeybee species, colony organization, division of labour and lifecycle of honey bees. In addition, the focus would be on the management of honey bee colonies during the spring, summer, monsoon, autumn and winter seasons, he added. Elaborating, Dr Chhuneja said that emphasis would also be laid on bee enemies and their management, technologies for production of bee products, diseases of honey bees and their management, etc. Apart from this, trainees would be apprised of bee schemes under National Horticulture Mission and financing schemes of banks for beekeepers, he told.

Dr Jaspal Singh, Technical Coordinator of the course, said that the thrust would also be on composition, processing, packing, quality and marketing of honey.