During the current mustard cultivation season, beekeepers are hoping to produce honey worth about Tk 35 crore from the bee hives in Pabna's Chatmohar, Bhangura, Faridpur, Natore's Baraigram, Gurdaspur and Tarash, Ullapara in Sirajganj. Mustard has been cultivated in about one and a half lakh hectares of land in this area. Beekeepers have already set up hives next to mustard fields. Honey collection will begin in full swing in the next few weeks.
The fields of Chalan Beel area are now full of mustard yellow flowers. People in general including tourists are visiting this scenic beauty regularly. The bees kept in the honey boxes of the farmers are busy collecting honey from the yellow flowers, humming and running. There is no time for the bee to stand still, and there is no leisure except at night.It is known that every year in the beginning of winter, the fields of Chalan Beel area are covered with yellow mustard flowers. As soon as the monsoon water recedes from the land, the farmers of the area sow mustard seeds as a surplus crop. In the end of winter, they pick mustard and cultivate Boro paddy on these lands. At the end of this year, besides beekeepers from different areas of Pabna Natore Sirajganj, hundreds of beekeepers from different regions of the country including Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Narail, Gazipur, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Chapainawabganj, Panchagarh, Thakurgao, Nilphamari come to Chalan Beel area to collect honey. Beehive boxes are being installed next to the mustard plant.
Beekeeper Rafiqul Islam of Dakshin Sreepur village of Kaliganj upazila of Satkhira district has been keeping bees for 11 years. Most recently, he has set up 130 beehive boxes next to the mustard fields of Nimaichra field in Chatmohar. Rafiqul Islam said that honey collection has not started yet. Within two to four days you will start collecting honey. He hopes that if the weather is favorable, he will be able to collect at least 5 mounds of honey every week. Wholesale buyers of honey have not yet entered the field to buy honey.
Jahangir Alam, President of Pabna Beekeepers Cooperative Society and President of North Bengal Beekeepers Association, said that mustard has been cultivated in more than one and a half lakh hectares of land in Chalan Beel area this season.
We divide the area of the farmers for who will set up the box where. Last year, mustard was cultivated on 120,000 hectares of land. Unrefined honey was sold for six thousand Tk.
The sale of honey has not yet started this year. It is expected that two thousand metric tons of honey will be produced from mustard flowers this season. As such, there is a potential of honey production of about 35 crore Tk in Chalan Beel area.
Chatmohar Upazila Agriculture Officer A.A Masum Billah said that the establishment of Maubox next to the mustard field will lead to better pollination of mustard. This will increase the production of mustard.
