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T Imtiwapang Aier, seen here with other officials and VBKC members at the Duda guest house, on Wednesday in Longleng town.[/caption]
Longleng, Feb. 6 (EMN): The government has a message for beekeepers: Get rid of the ‘subsidy mindset’ and start solving issues with innovation and innovative ideas.
A meeting for members of village beekeepers committees (VBKC) of Longleng district was organized by the Nagaland Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM), at the Duda guest house in Longleng town, on Wednesday. Updates on Wednesday informed about the event.
Currently, a team of government officials led by T Imtiwapang Aier, deputy secretary and team leader of the NBHM is visiting apiaries scattered across the district. The officials are there to gather first-hand information from beekeepers about the condition of the industry.
The district level consultative meeting for the VBKC in Longleng is been held for the first time. It is to promote beekeeping and honey in the district as well as to discuss problems faced by the committee. Likewise, it envisages educating members about the mission of the NBHM.
Speaking during the meeting at Longleng, the NBHM’s team leader appealed to the beekeepers in the district to ‘remove the subsidy culture’ thoroughly from their mind. They were urged to be prepared to solve any difficulty through innovative ideas.
The official was referring to what was claimed to be fund constraints faced by the mission. Nonetheless, he assured the beekeepers that the NBHM was channelizing its fund streams to assist to ‘genuine beekeepers.’
“Interest in beekeeping is very important than following the popular trend of beekeeping,” he said.
Aier informed that the state of Nagaland was producing only about 120 metric tonnes of honey. However, after the inauguration of the NBHM in 2007, the production of honey during 2017-18 increased to about 420 metric tonnes and a simultaneously increase in food production too, the gathering was told.
The official was of the view that beekeeping ‘does not require manual, hard work like other farm cultures.’ However, it needs time and proper management, which can result in huge returns, he said.
He suggested to the VBKC to form a organisation for beekeepers in Longleng district to avail various schemes and facilities from allied sectors.
“The art of scientific beekeeping should be thoroughly known by each beekeeper because the logistic support and other assistance provided by the mission will be useless,” the officer said.
Aier also declared to the beekeepers that the government of India was giving ‘much importance’ to women who are working in the beekeeping sector. He encouraged the women to take up beekeeping as an economic profession ‘because it does not require manual hard work.’
More than 40 beekeepers from various VBKC blocks in Longleng district attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, a two-day basic training programme in beekeeping was conducted at Yachen village, on February 6. The training event was organized by the NBHM.
The resource persons for the training camp were Nitoshe Kinimi, team member for Longleng; and Francis Kikon, project assistant of the NBHM.
Topics about pollination, management of bee colonies; division of bee colonies and site selection, along with practical workshops, were the features of the programme. Altogether 15 participants are currently attending the training programme.