Number of honey harvesters in mustard farming fields is increasing gradually as in Rajshahi including its vast Barind tract.
The composite farming is being adjudged as lucrative means of boosting mustard yield in the region.
Honey hunting is being expanded to many new areas every year contributing a lot towards employment generation giving a boost to honey production.
Many people have become financially solvent through honey harvesting activities. As a whole, honey farming has gained popularity in the region as many people attained success through commercial honey harvesting.
Shasthi Paharia, 48, a farmer of Kashini Gongarampur village under Charghat upazila, has been harvesting honey for long 10 years through rearing native bee species ‘serena’ in 12 boxes.
Shasthi says both demand and market price of honey of native bee species are comparatively high. He is hopeful of selling 120 kilograms of honey valued at around Tk 50,000 with net profit of Tk 25,000 this year.
His success inspires many of his co-villagers for honey harvesting. Like previous years, Ataur Rahman, a farmer of Namajgram village under Godagari upazila, remains involved in honey harvesting in mustard field since 2000.
At the initial stage, he gained profit through setting up 10 boxes that encourages him to enhance the number of boxes in the following years. In this season, he has set up 265 boxes in different areas.
“I have harvested 16 kilograms of honey from the boxes in last 10 days,” Ataur Rahman said. He earns more than Tk 0.7 million every winter season through his commercial honey harvesting project.
“Honey harvesting makes me income-generator and self-confident,” said Ashraful Islam Sumon, another farmer of Hasnabad village under Godagari upazila, adding that he has collected 14 kilograms of honey from his boxes in last 12 days.
“I got 38 mounds of honey from my 67 bee-colonies in Borobilla area under Paba upazila. I sold 10 mounds to local people. Now I am waiting to sell the rest to a company at a good price,” said Habibur Rahman Babu, a farmer in Darusha village under the same upazila.
Mustafizur Rahman, additional director of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), said more than 225 tonnes of honey were produced in the region during the current season. He said this amount is five times higher than that of the last year, reports BSS.
Farmers of Rajshahi, Naogaon, Natore, Chapainawabganj and other adjacent districts have been engaged in honey extraction since mid November.
The DAE has set a target of harvesting more than 0.23 million metric tonnes of mustard seed from around 0.19 million hectares of land in all eight districts under Rajshahi division during the current season.
Farmers set up 7,876 bee-colonies near mustard fields at different villages and got around 75 kilograms of honey from each colony in two weeks. The farmers said they were able to sell one-third of the honey to local people and wholesalers at around Tk 150 per kilogram, and are waiting for companies to buy the rest.
“We will be able to make a good profit if the companies buy our honey for Tk 150 to Tk 200 per kg,” the growers said.
Monjure Mawla, Upazila Agriculture Officer, said that honeybee rearing in mustard farming field is very much helpful for proper fertilisation of the crop. So, the DAE always inspires and motivates the farmers to adopt special project.
Prof Dr Bidhan Chandra Das from Department of Zoology at Rajshahi University said the honey farmers need technological support, financial assistance and a sound marketing system.
“It’s possible to make the honey farming a million-dollar business for the country, creating huge jobs,” he said.
