A honey testing laboratory was inaugurated at ICAR-KVK, Hirehalli, Tumakuru on 20th May 2022, happened to be International Honey Bee Day. This is established under National Bee Keeping and Honey Mission by Government of India, as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package, by National Bee Board. Sri Narendra Singh Tomar, Honorable Minister of Agriculture, Government of India, inaugurated this facility on a virtual platform from a similar programme organized at Kevadia, Gujarat. Mrs. Keerthi Prabha, District Development Manager, NABARD, opened the curtain here.
Dr BN Srinivasa Murthy, Director, ICAR-IIHR, Hessarghatta, Bengaluru, was instrumental in bringing this facility to KVK, during his earlier tenure as Horticulture Commissioner, GoI. This facility will help bee keepers to test honey and other bee products for their quality and nutrient parameters. Earlier in the programme, Honorable Minister had directly interacted with one Mr Chandra Sekhar, a Bee keeper and one of the Directors of Bee Keeping Cooperative Society, Tumakuru, in which he emphasized the role of bee keeping in supporting the farmers to double their income.
KVK would help potential bee keepers to take up proper skill training for scientific bee keeping and an FPO, exclusively on Bee keeping, supported by NABARD, is also on the cards, said Dr Loganandhan, Head, KVK. Bee keepers can test their products in this lab, which would add their brand value, he added. Mr PR Ramesh, technical officer from KVK, would help in proper implementation of this facility at KVK, who has also organized the entire event yesterday.
