Badakhshan apiarists concerned at low honey yield

FAIZABAD (Pajhwok): Beekeepers in northeastern Badakhshan province are concerned at a low honey yield, seeking assistance from the government.

Honey farmers say fewer seasonal rainfall affected flowers blooming and cut their lifespan, taking a toll on the production of honey.

Mohammad Arif, who has been in this business for 10 years, voiced his concern at the low honey yield. He told Pajhwok Afghan News he had good income from honey sales in the past.

Arif usually moves his 30 crates of bees to different locations in different seasons, but his efforts and expenses did not bring him a satisfactory honey yield this year.

He added: “The yield is so low this year. I can hardly earn the money I have spent on my bees. In the past, I would have 1,000 kilograms of honey annually. But this time around, I have got only 100 kilograms of honey.”

He asked Islamic Emirate’s officials and other relevant institutions for assistance in continuing his apiculture business.

Haseebullah, another beekeeper from the Shuhada district of Badakhshan, is equally worried about the low honey production.

He also blamed drought for the reduced honey production and said plants in deserts and other areas did not grow due to lack of rains. The situation led to a fall in honey production.

Haseebullah said the honey derived from the nectar of peach and desert flowers sold for 700 afghanis per kilogram in the market.

He sought assistance from the agriculture department for beekeepers in terms of feed and medicine for bees.

Senior agriculture official Gul Dad Ayubi confirmed the decline in honey yield this year. He said 590 people in Badakhshan were associated with the beekeeping business. These individuals have 16,160 crates of bees.

He said some NGOs like Mission East and Organisation for Relief Development were working in coordination with the government for the promotion of the beekeeping business in Shuhada, Baharak, Jurum and Khash districts.

Separately, the Agha Khan Foundation is helping the less fortunate people of the border districts by providing them with Caucasian breed of honeybees.

Ayubi referred to surveys that show a significant decrease in honey production this year. He said beekeepers collected 3.5 kilograms of honey from a crate in the past. But this level has decreased to 2.5 kilograms in the solar year 1401.

Ayubi added beekeepers usually attended training courses and workshops, with some donors having distributed 200 bee boxes to some less fortunate families in Faizabad and several districts.

He urged Afghans to buy domestically produced honey for its high quality, because the imported varieties were not so well.

aw/nh/mud

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