Bilal Dar
Baramulla, May 18: Jahangir Ahmad, a resident of Chukar village of Kunzer in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, has found success in bee farming after switching from conventional apple farming six years ago.
Jahangir told The Web Story that he began with just three hives and today maintains 350 hives that produce 150 quintals of acacia (Kikar) honey, a premium honey that can be purchased for Rs 800 per kg in the market. The annual profit of his beekeeping business is roughly Rs 6 lakh.
The name of his product is Al- Shifa honey and sells like hotcakes in parts of Kashmir for its good quality.
Jahangir, who holds a master degree in tourism, revealed that his decision to move to bee farming was motivated by the thought of using honey bees to pollinate his family’s apple orchard.
After experiencing a major decline in productivity in 2016, his family decided to install apiaries in the orchard to help with pollination.
“The idea of pollination in the orchard through honey bees prompted him to shift from conventional farming to bee farming,” he added.
Jahangir claimed that in order to give his bees a stable environment, he transports them to warmer regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat throughout the winter in quest of blooms.
Not only this, Jahangir also makes about Rs 2000 per bee colony throughout the course of the 20-day pollination process by using the bee colonies to pollinate the blossoms of pomegranates and other crops.
“I was once an unemployed youth, but now I am able to employ three others in my business,” he added.
On average, Jahangir produces between 60 to 150 quintals of honey per year, which sells for approximately 700-800 rupees per kilogram.
Jahangir not only distributes his merchandise to regional markets such as Hyderabad and Delhi, but he also retails honey at local markets and exports it to Saudi Arabia.
“A bee-farming unit does not require a huge land area and that even a small piece of land is enough to start commercial honey production. It can be started from a meager sum of Rupees 10 thousand and the profit is enormous,” he added.
He thanks the Department of Agriculture for its advice and assistance and implores it to maintain additional beehives in Kashmir and to promptly issue guidelines on various diseases affecting honeybees.
“I am also thankful to SKUAST-K who provided me with timely instructions on how to raise bees and harvest honey,” he added.
The potential of beekeeping in the area, which can support more than 6 lakh bee colonies, has been acknowledged by the government of Jammu and Kashmir.
The government has developed a number of subsidy-based programmes to encourage unemployed youth to start beekeeping businesses. The government is also recommending a Geographical Indication (GI) label for honey, which will support beekeepers in Jammu and Kashmir like Jahangir in operating prosperous enterprises.
