Chief of Beekeeping Development Centre in Bhandara, Sujan Amgain, stated that a total of 450 metric tonnes of honey was produced this year against 540 metric tonnes of last year. Nearly 450 commercial farmers have kept more than 17,500 beehives in the district.
It is said that the unseasonal rain occurred this year resulted in reduced production of honey. Limited production of mustard and chiyuri due to the unseasonal rain happened this year caused a decline in honey production, Amgain added.
Generally, farmers harvest honey thrice in the mustard fields and five times in the chiyuri forest areas but this was heavily reduced this year. This year, only 30 per cent of the total beekeepers harvested honey from mustard and chiyuri farms against a 70 per cent of the normal practice. (RSS)
