Apiculture is one of the specific missions under the IBDLP which can play a crucial role in poverty reduction, employment generation and livelihood promotion. The Department of Commerce & Industries, Government of Meghalaya, in partnership with the MIE, Shillong, launched the State Apiculture Mission under the aegis of the Integrated Basin development and Livelihood Promotion Programme (IBDLP) on the 16th October, 2014, at Polo Ground, Shillong. The Chief Guest at the event was the Honourable Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma. Other dignitaries present at the event were Smt. R. Warjri, Home Minister, Government of Meghalaya, Shri. P.B.O. Warjri, IAS, Chief Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Shri. P. W. Ingty, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Commerce and Industries Department, Shri. P. Jain, Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Planning, Shri. S. Goyal, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills, Shri. C.V.D. Diengdoh, IAS, Additional Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills and Shri. W. Langstang, Director, Commerce and Industries.
The Apiculture Mission has been initiated across the State in a convergent mode with the Department of Commerce and Industries. The Mission has been designed to spur initiatives integrative with Meghalaya’s biophysical attributes to confer livelihood improvement through gainful employment of the local populace. It was conceived as a mission-mode apiculture development strategy underpinned by intensified honey production, domain expansion of honey product development, creation of market linkages for profitable marketing of honey and honey products, and community engagement for creating an effective and sustainable income source through infrastructural and human capacity development. Technical assistance along with innovative financing and market linkages under institutionalized management are the key vehicles for implementing the strategy for up scaling and promoting apiculture as an organized enterprise.
Shri. P. W. Ingty, IAS, Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries Department delivered the welcome address and stated the reason behind launching the Apiculture Mission, “The vision of the mission is to scale up and promote apiculture as an organised industrial enterprise which will provide livelihoods and gainful employment opportunities.”
Following the welcome speech was Shri. P. Jain, IAS, Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, stated that the core beliefs of the Apiculture mission is in synergy with that of the IBDLP programme in that “each family must have at least three livelihoods.” Bee keeping as Jain observed has “always been taken up more as a hobby than a livelihood.” By training our local bee keepers behind the science of bee keeping, honey cultivation can become an enterprise that can run in tandem with other sources of livelihoods, P. Jain added. IBDLP will help each bee keeper “with the seed capital” which would be handing over bee boxes to interested entrepreneurs. P. Jain also gave the the example of Williamnagar, where construction of bee boxes has been specialized to the point that these bee boxes are some of the best in the country.
P.B.O Warjri was cautious in warning bee keepers to dissuade people and especially farmers around them to “abstain from using pesticides in their fields as this was proving to be fatal to bees in the state”. He urged them to persuade farmers to use organic methods when fertilising their fields. This was not only a healthier method of farming but it would also protect the environment and bees from the fatal use of toxic pesticides. Mrs. R. Warjri spoke on “preservation of the environment and uplifting the economic activities of people in the state as a whole.” She spoke briefly on the medicinal property of honey and cited the example of how “people in other cities always asked me to bring a bottle of honey from Meghalaya for them when I was visiting the city”; this was an example of how popular the honey in Meghalaya was in the country. She also spoke on the use of technology to harvest honey efficiently in the state.
The Chief Guest, Dr. Mukul Sangma stated that “through hard work we can effectively contribute to the prosperity of the state and the nation. Through the Apiculture Mission we are expressing this desire”. Dr. Sangma said that “our objective is to sincerely create an environment where every family in the state will be capable of having earnings which can be commensurate to the needs of the family to grow.” He also commented on the minimal success of state and central initiatives that have been doled out over the years and how their impacts have only just trickled down to the common man or missed them altogether. It was because of this chronic problem that it was necessary to come up with initiatives in mission mode so that it was possible to reach out to more people. Dr. Sangma further explained that honey was indeed a product that needed to be invested in as it would provide bee keepers with a livelihood that was sufficient and sustainable. He also spoke keenly on the medical value that occurs in honey. He was excited at the thought of being able to tap this medical property of honey and thus increasing it commercial value. This in itself would be enough to motivate the Government and entrepreneurs to invest in honest and make it “the best honey in the world.”
The programme concluded with the Chief Minister presenting beekeeper kits to 21 Master Beekeepers of Khadarshnong villages. He also presented a memento to Prof. L. R. Verma for his contribution to beekeeping in Meghalaya.