Mustard farming benefits honey hunters in Rajshahi
BSS, Rajshahi :
More than 250 tonnes of honey were produced in Rajshahi region during the current season making growers hopeful of getting a good earning.
This amount is five times higher than that of last year, said sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) here.
Farmers of Rajshahi, Naogaon, Natore and Chapainawabganj districts had been engaged in honey extraction since mid-November, said Fazlur Rahman, additional director of DAE. Due to favourable weather, the number of farmers increased this year to 250 from 75 in the region and other districts last year, he said.
Farmers set up 7,500 bee-colonies near mustard fields in different villages where there was good flowering, and got around 80 kg of honey from each colony in two weeks, the growers said.
The farmers said they were able to sell one-third of the honey to local people and wholesalers at around Tk 150 per kilogram, and are waiting for business companies to buy the rest.
“We will be able to make a good profit if the companies buy our honey for Tk 150 to Tk 200 per kg,” the growers said.
“I got 35 maunds of honey from my 63 bee-colonies in Borobilla area under Paba upazila. I sold twelve maunds to locals. Now I am waiting to sell the rest to a company at a good price,” said Habibur Rahman Babu, a farmer in Darusha village under the same upazila.
A number of growers said the same, adding that they have to spend about 50 percent of the earning to meet the cost during extraction and for feeding the bees during the off-season.
More than 250 tonnes of honey were produced in Rajshahi region during the current season making growers hopeful of getting a good earning.
This amount is five times higher than that of last year, said sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) here.
Farmers of Rajshahi, Naogaon, Natore and Chapainawabganj districts had been engaged in honey extraction since mid-November, said Fazlur Rahman, additional director of DAE. Due to favourable weather, the number of farmers increased this year to 250 from 75 in the region and other districts last year, he said.
Farmers set up 7,500 bee-colonies near mustard fields in different villages where there was good flowering, and got around 80 kg of honey from each colony in two weeks, the growers said.
The farmers said they were able to sell one-third of the honey to local people and wholesalers at around Tk 150 per kilogram, and are waiting for business companies to buy the rest.
“We will be able to make a good profit if the companies buy our honey for Tk 150 to Tk 200 per kg,” the growers said.
“I got 35 maunds of honey from my 63 bee-colonies in Borobilla area under Paba upazila. I sold twelve maunds to locals. Now I am waiting to sell the rest to a company at a good price,” said Habibur Rahman Babu, a farmer in Darusha village under the same upazila.
A number of growers said the same, adding that they have to spend about 50 percent of the earning to meet the cost during extraction and for feeding the bees during the off-season.
