PESHAWAR  - The government has decided to provide extensive professional training to 3,000 beginner beekeepers under the Prime Minister’s Apiculture Up-scaling Programme for Income and Rural Employment (ASPIRE) in next two years across the country including Azad Kashmir to bolster honey production.
Under ASPIRE, the training and capacity building of these beekeepers would be achieved through National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC). Similarly, certification of 15,000 existing beekeepers would be achieved through NAVTTC, enabling them easy access to loans from different banks to expand their business and increase their honey’s exports.
Director Non Timber Forests Produces (NTFP), Environment and Forests Department KP, Iftikhar Khalil told APP that work on ASPIRE has been expedited in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) where beekeepers are being providing an extensive training besides creation of enabling environment to support bees population, rural development and generate employment opportunities through apiculture business.
He said the sites for bees’ flora plants in Kohat and Karak districts have been identified where massive plantations, especially of the Bair and Pullai plants, would be made during the next two years.
“KP Forest Department intends to plant 5.240 million Bair trees under the 10 billion trees afforestration program in two years under PM’s Billions Trees Honey Program,” he said.
The Prime Minister formally launched the Billions Trees Honey Initiative on December 21, 2020 to promote tree plantations and honey production under the mega 10 billion trees afforestation programme in the country.
As per MoU signed among various departments, he said NAVTTC was responsible for launching the National Beekeeper Certification Programme under which certified beekeepers would be provided financial support through Kamyab Jawan Programme. Similarly, the Ministry of Science and Technology would certify the honey produced under this landmark programme while the Ministry of Climate Change, Islamabad has been assigned the task of devising a national streamlined honey programme.
Sponsored by National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRFM) and executed by Minister of Climate Change Islamabad and PMAS- Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, he said the project would be completed with an estimated cost of Rs500 million in three years ( 2021-23).
Focus is being made on creation of enabling environment to support bees population through selection of suitable apiary sites in all provinces including KP, inclusive survey for documentation of beekeepers, bees colonies, honey production per year, bees flora’ enhancement and development of honey forests through 40 established nurseries, each having 25,000 plants capacity for producing one million major honey plants and launching of input supplies and business development service providers in commercial operations and different business modalities.
Besides creation of enabling condition for credit and lease financing to beekeepers through banks and developing national platform for bees’ products, he said exposure visit of the staff and beekeepers under billion trees honey project would be made and accredited bee product standardization and formulation laboratory at PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi to be established.
Iftikhar Khalil said Agriculture Department KP intends to establish a laboratory-cum-processing unit in Tarnab, Peshawar under Annual Development Programme (ADB) funded project “Promotion of Honey Production for Livelihood Improvement” with an allocation of Rs10 million where accreditation would be done through national and international standards. He said 7,000 bees’ boxes have been distributed among farmers and 1,000 beginner beekeepers were trained during the last three years in KP.