By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 21 Apr: A honey extraction programme was organised in the presence of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at his official residence, here, today. The programme was conducted by the Horticulture Department. During this activity, about 25 kg of honey was extracted.
The Chief Minister directed the officers of the Horticulture Department to promote beekeeping as a pilot project. He asked for a high-tech animal husbandry training centre to be established in district Champawat. He wanted a detailed description to be made available through PPT regarding the potential of beekeeping and its utility in horticulture.
The Chief Minister directed the garden in-charge of his residence, Deepak Purohit, to select suitable places for beekeeping in the premises and in vacant places outside. He directed that the Chief Minister’s residential complex be developed as an excellent model of horticulture activities, so that the visitors coming to the house could obtain information about advanced techniques.
Director, Horticulture, Dr Harminder Singh Baweja stated on the occasion that bees helped increase horticulture productivity through pollination and, in addition to honey production from the bees, some additional by-products could also be obtained in orchards such as Royal Jelly, Propolis, Bee-wax, Pollen, Comb Honey, Bee Venom, etc. He added that bees also contribute to biodiversity and environmental sustainability, besides helping the horticulturists get additional income and creating employment in rural areas, where beekeeping could be adopted as a vocation.
