Kashmir valley is well known for its floral gaieties where numerous varieties of flowers grow naturally. The diverse varieties of flowers are also cultivated due to diverse agro climatic conditions. The diverse varieties of flowers bloom from early spring to till late fall. The diversity of flowers is very conducive for beekeeping. They provide sufficient raw material nectar and pollen to the honeybees for the production of honey and other products like beeswax, propolis, flower pollen, bee pollen and royal jelly for various purposes. Nissar Ahmad Parra, resident of Larkipora Karwahama ( Tangmarg) after completing his master’s degree in Urdu and Kashmiri subjects took keen interest in bee keeping in 2019. With this step, he has become an inspiration for the unemployed youth in his vicinity and different parts of the state as well. Despite being highly qualified, Nissar chose a path of beekeeping instead of looking after jobs both in the private and government sectors. He started his beekeeping business at a small level by purchasing two honeybee colonies of Apis mellifera species. The Apis mellifera species give more yield and are easily domesticated but unfortunately, due to lack of awareness and education about beekeeping, all bees of his one colony died due to a dreadful viral disease. Nissar moved to the Agricultural University Srinagar for protection of another honeybee colony from dreadful viral disease where Rather sahab HOD of the Entomology Department encouraged and guided him very well about the beekeeping methods. He also advised Nissar for necessary training programmes. Nissar said, “After receiving important training at KVIC ( Khadi and Village Industries Commission) Budgam, I developed further interest in honey bee keeping”. He bought six more colonies of Apis mellifera at Ramhama village of Beerwah in 2020. He worked very hard and developed further fifty colonies of honeybees, which produced around 300 kilograms of honey, spelling way good profits. Encouraged by the profitability of Apiculture, he sought guidance from the Entomology experts, Department of Agriculture and KVK particularly in district Budgam. He received all possible technical know-how from the agriculture department Budgam and they suggested to him various high-end equipment used in beekeeping. The junior and senior scientists trained him whole process, methods of bee keeping and the extraction of honey. Aspiring young entrepreneur wants to increase the strength of the apiary up to 300 in the next three years and is planning to purchase a processing unit very soon. He said, ‘it is economically more rewarding and provides self-employment”. Nissar is very famous for selling his pure honey under the trade name ‘Tosamaidan Honey” and earns lakhs of rupees annually. The agriculture department Budgam invited Nissar many times and put his honey at SKUAST (Sher-e- Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Shalimar) and other exhibitions due to pure and quality honey. Nissar attracts his customers with a great knowledge of honey varieties and their medicinal values due to antibacterial properties. He has been able to build a strong consumer base in the state and people from different parts of the state purchase pure and quality honey from him. He largely produces many varieties of honey—acacia, mustard and multi-floral and coriander. Acacia honey produced by Nissar is very famous and the most sweet that always attracts customers for purchasing. Acacia honey is very famous, light colour, almost transparent, flower like aroma, sweet and delicate flavour. It remains liquid longer and crystallizes much slower than traditional honey due to its high sucrose content compared to traditional honey. He successfully collects honey three times in a year, one in May June months, second November December months and third in February March months. The honey obtained in May June months is usually of nectar and pollens from the Acacia flowers. It is costly compared to the honey obtained in November and December. After collecting honey, Nissar packages them attractively in small beautiful bottles and supplies to the customers under the name ‘Tosamaidan Honey”. Nissar said, ‘I will employ two youths with him on his farm very soon and in the future with the expansion of business, I will generate more employment”. Rearing honeybees is a good source of fetching money and a large number of unemployed and educated youth of the valley can involve themselves in this business so that the soaring unemployment rate among youth in the valley will be declined. Attraction of youth towards the apiculture sector makes them independent and will decrease the derailing of youth towards the drug addiction, crimes, suicides etc. The need of the hour is to provide important awareness, training and knowledge to the youth about the whole process and methods of beekeeping.
During bloom period, Nissar provides honeybee colonies on rental basis for pollination in out states like Rajasthan, Gujarat etc. However, in Kashmir valley, the fruit growers do not utilize the services of any beekeeper for pollination purposes. Being simple, cheap and more rewarding, the fruit growers prefer usage of chemicals instead of natural honeybees for pollination purposes. The synthetic chemicals are very costly and ecologically unsafe. The young beekeeper said, for the past many years, the agro based beekeeping industry is not free from threats and challenges that has not only affected honey production but also quality as well. The potential threats to the apiculture facing for many years are climate change, global warming, increasing use of pesticides, weedicide, outbreak of viral and bacterial diseases that have declined honeybee population and rendered many areas without honey bees .Destruction of forests, clean cultivation (monoculture plantations), urbanization, have diminished bee vegetation and rendered many areas barren for beekeeping. The bee business is also neglected by the government and Apiculture department as the bee business has not been brought in the livestock category yet and Beekeepers are not getting benefits of crop loan and crop insurance and this callous attitude of the government leads to huge losses every year to beekeepers. To mitigate the challenges, the government of Jammu and Kashmir in particular and the apiculture department in particular should bring beekeeping in the livestock category. Interest free loans should be provided to the beekeepers. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra at the SKUAST (Sher-e- Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Shalimar) must organise training programs to impart necessary knowledge among educated youth and Beekeepers and train them thoroughly. Use of bio pesticides, bio weedicides, control of bacterial and viral diseases of honeybees, ban on unchecked deforestation and increasing vegetation cover will help to boost bee business in the valley. Young entrepreneur Nissar hopes that unemployed youth of the valley will move towards the apiculture sector and start their own bee business so that they will become employment providers instead of job seekers. It is also the duty of the government and the concerned departments to provide all facilities like awareness, education, training, guidance, interest free loans etc. to the beekeepers and educated youth of the valley for their successful bee business.
( The author is a teacher at Boys Higher Secondary School Beerwah. Views are his own)
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