The commercial honey collectors have collected 1, 65, 000 kilograms (kgs) of honey during the current season from all the seven upazilas of the district, officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said here Tuesday.
The DAE office sources said, a total of 120 honey collectors set up more than 10,000 bee boxes at selected 3,500 hectares of mustard field and collected honey in full swing. The DAE earlier set a target for collecting 1, 65, 000 kgs of honey worth about Tk 5.77 crore during the season and they have already achieved the target.
The DAE office sources said, the cultivation of mustard has exceeded its fixed target and the production has also increased as the farmers received all the necessary agri-inputs including seeds and fertilizers in due time. The government earlier distributed incentives for mustard cultivation for the 9000 marginal cultivators. DAE office sources said the government has taken initiatives to produce more oil seeds in the country to avoid the import of the edible oil from abroad.
The Department of Agriculture Extension officials said the bees help pollination while collecting honey by flying from flower to flower of mustard which has helped to increase the production about 15 more.
The officials, honey collectors and even the cultivators said that bees have a good role in increasing the production of mustard and it is very much positive for the mustard production.