Tribals step up beekeeping with monofloral honey production in ASR district of Andhra Pradesh

Tribals belonging to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) from 30 hamlets in Paderu and Araku mandals of Alluri Sitharama Raju district have been receiving training in the production of monofloral honey—honey formed from nectar of a single plant species—through the four Science Technology and Innovation Hubs (STI Hubs), set up by GITAM Deemed-to-be University in 2023, with the support of the Science for Equity Empowerment and Development (SEED) wing of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

The trainees mainly come from Thumpada, Modapalle, Minumuluru, Raigedda, Talarisingi, Yegumodaputtu, Padmanabhapuram, Pappuduvalasa, Yandapallivalasa, Chompi, Hattaguda, and Lotheru villages, said the officials.

A beekeeper, Dasari Gopi of Araku, said, “Till now, we used to take up honey production entirely according to traditional methods. Now, we are learning new and innovative methods. This is of great benefit to us.”

The project has now reached the honey production stage and in the next stage, the promotion, branding and marketing of the honey will be taken up with the support of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Principal investigator and associate professor at GITAM Biotechnology Department, I. Sarat Babu told The Hindu

“The project aims to harness the valuable produce of nature through action-oriented and location-specific measures to achieve socio-economic development of the underprivileged sections of the society with appropriate interventions of science, technology and innovation.”

For the monofloral honey production, about 100 acres were planted with flowering plants like niger (valisalu) and about 250 bee boxes were set up. The bees collect nectar within a radius of 5 km of the bee box. At least five to seven tonnes of honey is being collected seasonally through this project, said Mr. Babu

“Each farmer in this project is able to earn over ₹1 lakh per year and, at the same time, learn scientific and systematic beekeeping. This is our success as pioneers of this project. My team and I spend at least one or two days a week, usually on weekends and holidays to engage in this project,” said Mr. Babu.

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