NyKAD Cr
INDIA The Punjab government has decided to set up honey processing plants to improve the quality of honey being produced by the state beekeepers. This was announced at a state level conference of 700 beekeepers. The beekeepers brought to the notice of the state government the problems they face. The
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Beekeeping is being encouraged by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, with increasing success each year. This work has been carried out at 50 beekeeping stations in Mandalay, Sagaing, Rangoon, Magwe and Pegu Divisions and Karen State. There are now more than 3000 colonies of Apis mellifera and Apis cerana. Short-term beekeeping courses have been conducted since 1985 and so far 935 such courses have taken place. In 1987-88 colonies of bees were migrated to some 160000 ha of oil seed crops. The Department is giving priority to producing pure honey for domestic consumption and it exports only the surplus. The current annual target for honey production is 17000kg and production is expected to exceed this target. The Beekeeping Department is selling honey and other products such as Satumadu, garlic honey, ginger honey, cookies made of honey, honey bread, honey pudding and concentrated honey wine at the Diplomatic Stores, department stores and stalls of the Livestock Breeding Corporation. We hope that beekeeping will replace the cultivation of the
(Indian Express,
COOK ISLANDS Aworkshop on the care and management of bees for honey production was held at the University of the South Pacific Centre, Rarotonga in July 1988. Sponsorship was provided by CTA (The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Co-operation) and IRETA (The Institute for Research, Extension and Training in Agriculture). 15 beekeepers from both public and private sectors travelled from Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Niue and Western Samoa to join Cook Island beekeepers for the workshop. For five days they received lectures on the management of honeybees, honey handling, maintenance of equipment, diseases, and the role of government regulations in beekeeping, and also participated in field work.
(Workshop co-ordinator, Dr S Victor Rajakulendran)
July
1988. Sent by
S S
Bajwa)
MOROCCO
opium poppy, making pure honey available for domestic consumption and for export and help increase production of various crops by ensuring pollination.
(The Guardian, 29 February 1988. Sent by Saw Aung Myint)
main points included marketing facilities, higher limit of loan, processing plants to improve the quality of honey and related facilities like quality boxes and training facilites. It was suggested that the government should open honey bars on the pattern of milk bars and an official should be appointed in each district for this purpose. Mrs Parween Singh, who has been exporting honey, demanded that licences should be issued to export honey. Mr Manohar Singh Gill (additional chief secretary) said another meeting would be held at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana to discuss points raised by the beekeepers. Punjab presently produces 700 tonnes of honey and the ultimate potential is 90 000 tonnes. There are 6500 beekeepers in the state with 68 000 colonies. The Punjab government started the beekeeping scheme on a pilot basis in Gurdaspur district in 1982 and later extended it to Hoshiarpur, Roapr and Ludhiana districts in 1987-88. The districts of Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Sangrur have been included in the current year. The Punjab government is considering a proposal to introduce a scheme under which the PAIC would undertake procurement of honey, processing and reselling on a pilot project basis.
COSTA RICA An IDB loan to Fundacién de Clubes 4-S (FUNAC) was designed to meet the needs for credit of low-income youth in Costa Rica. FUNAC is a government agency that helps young, rural people who lack access to tradi-
tional sources of rural credit. Rafael Fallas Urefia, 20 years old, of Santa Maria de Dota, received a loan of 6025 colones (about US$600) from the 4-S Club to purchase bees and hives to start his project. Rafael helps support his family selling honey from the hives, and also works as a house painter. He received a second 4-S Club loan of 6300 colonies to purchase pollen collectors (pollen sells for 300 colones per kilogram). During his first year of operation he had a net profit of 9125 colones. He invested a little more than half this (5000 colones) back into his business, buying a honey extractor and materials for a shed which he built himself to house his beekeeping equipment.
(InterAmerican Development Bank)
UNIFEM, the Consultative Committee of the UN Development Fund for Women convened its 24th session in New York last September. This Committee meets twice a year to identify priority projects for immediate financing. 12 projects requiring US$3.5 million were pin-pointed, including a credit scheme to help rural women with a beekeeping production programme in Morocco.
(UNDP 1988)
World
Development,
November
MOZAMBIQUE A national meeting was held in October 1988 with the objective of examining the activities of the National Beekeeping Programme since its establishment five years ago. 75 participants represented every province of Mozambique, and discussed the organisation of the programme, and the training provided. Resolutions passed at the meeting included a request that farmers who undertake fumigation programmes must inform neighbouring beekeepers, and that introduction to beekeeping should be compulsory in training institutions. (Mathew Kawa, Beekeeping Technical Advisor)
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