APICULTURE by using box-method can be one of the most effective sources of income due to easy methods of preparation involved. In Bangladesh, we have immense demand of honey - around 2500 tons annually - and young investors can utilise this opportunity to make money. We now have a small number of apiculturists, around 25000 (1000 are commercially active cultivators). In the past honey was collected naturally from the Sundarbans and other large forests.
Honey is preferred as a delicious food in both rural and urban areas of Bangladesh. It also has sufficient medicinal value. If we look back we find that the habit of taking honey has been continuing for centuries. Our ancestors attached high value to honey on different counts and made it a habit to take honey regularly. In fact, people have been taking honey as a gift of nature.
Though it is a potential sector, we have so far only a few investors in this sector with a small amount of capital. Moreover, the existing industries are finding it difficult to survive due to lack of technology and modern management. As a result, the economy is not being benefited by procuring, manufacturing and marketing of honey to the expected level.
The government as well as the NGOs should come forward with new technology and easy financial support. The government in particular can allow this business to prosper by formulating appropriate policies and providing training. Moreover, honey will also change the scenario of rural areas by employing more people in honey keeping.
Mahadi Hassan
East West University, Dhaka
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Apiculture: The potential sector
FE Team | Published: June 23, 2016 19:26:31 | Updated: October 24, 2017 00:39:32
Apiculture: The potential sector
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