Farmers should look at integrated farming as secondary agriculture: Premjit
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 29 2020:
The two day workshop cum honey festival, organised by Integrated Beekeeping Development Centre, Directorate of Extension Education, CAU Imphal, concluded at College of Agriculture, CAU Iroisemba today.
Retired IAS Dr RK Nimai, VC, CAU Imphal Professor M Premjit, Dean, College of Food Technology, CAU Imphal, Professor Y Jekendra, Dean, College of Agriculture, CAU Imphal Professor Indira Sarangthem and Dr Pradeep attended the function as dignitaries.
Speaking as the chief guest of the function, RK Nimai said that honey is the purest material which does not go stale.
The production of crops will subsequently decrease if there are no bees to pollinate.
VC, CAU, Premjit maintained that farmers of Manipur will not be able to double their income if they only focus on rice cultivation while adding that the farmers need to engage in integrated farming, which is crucial and necessary as a secondary agriculture.
Food processing, beekeeping, mushroom cultivation are some of the methods among others to help double the income, Professor Premjit noted.
Honey is the only product which was focused when discussed about beekeeping.
However, many bee products like wax, royal jelly can be achieved from beekeeping, the VC added.
Saying that the honey available at the stalls opened at the workshop are not processed, Premjit stated that it would not be possible to market the product in the State and outside Manipur.
Maintaining that there are two processing units in the College, he informed that the bigger unit can process 500kg of honey in an hour while the other unit can process 250kg at one time.
The VC mentioned that many imported bee products are not pure while motivating all to produce pure honey with no chemicals so as to deliver better health and increase the farmers income.
It would not be possible to increase or maintain crops' production without the help of pollinators, considering many factors like deforestation, mass use of pesticides, large scale cultivation, he said.
The VC continued that if four boxes of bees are kept for one paddy fields filled with mustard leaves, there is 15 to 20 percent chance that the production will increase apart from amplifying the oil present in the crop to 4 percent.
There have been findings by Scientists of the Central Agricultural University which proves the above theory, he added.