A two-day district-level seminar on Scientific Beekeeping and National Honey Mission commenced in village Bhaga of Reasi district on Monday.
The seminar was inaugurated by DDC Chairman Saraf Singh Nag, in the presence of MLA Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Constituency Baldev Raj Sharma and ADDC Sukhdev Singh Samyal.
In his inaugural address, the DDC Chairman appreciated the Agriculture Department for organizing the seminar and urged farmers to embrace diversification in agriculture.
MLA Baldev Raj Sharma urged the farmers to avail government schemes to improve their financial well-being.
Speaking at the event, ADDC Sukhdev Singh Samyal stressed the importance of organic farming, encouraging farmers to shift towards chemical-free agricultural practices for healthier and more sustainable crop production.
The seminar also featured an insightful presentation by experts from KVK Reasi and SKUAST-J, Dr. Banarsi and Dr. Devinder Sharma, who discussed the role of beekeeping in income generation, entrepreneurship, and advanced apiculture practices. They also provided an overview of the beekeeping industry in Jammu.
Earlier, Chief Agriculture Officer Harbans Singh, highlighted the vast potential of beekeeping in the district and the government schemes aimed at supporting apiculture. He encouraged farmers to take advantage of the 80% subsidy under the Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP) to enhance their beekeeping practices, making it a sustainable and profitable livelihood. He also emphasized the need to adopt scientific beekeeping techniques over traditional methods to boost production and profitability.