There's a new buzz along the highways in Jharkhand.And it’s all about a ‘cash crop’ that’s fast becoming popular among entrepreneurs here: honey.The sweet, sticky yellowish-brown liquid—full of medicinal properties—is currently being cultivated mainly along five highways in Chatra, Ranchi, Gumla, Hazaribagh and East Singhbhum.And almost all these areas enjoy a forest cover for over 27 per cent—ideal conditions, say bee-kepeers, for the honey business. So much so that production in the state has shot up from 11,000 tonnes in 1994 to 19,000 tonnes in 2004.‘‘The high quality of their product has a lot to do with the location,’’ says Awdhesk Singh, a bee scientist at the Birsa Agriculture University. ‘‘As Karanj and Sarguja trees are usually not found near homes located in towns, they keep the boxes of bee colonies along the forest-rich highways,’’ he says.And with sales booming, more farmers are joining the honey train. ‘‘More than 20 farmers have taken up bee-keeping as a profession. And all of them are doing well, says S S Sil, Director, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).Along with Dabur and the Ram Krishna Mission (RKM), the KVIC is one of the main purchasers of honey in the region catering to the rising demand at home and abroad.‘‘The good demand and high margin of profit, going up to 100 percent at times, weighed heavily in our decision to switch from cultivating vegetables to honey,’’ says Ramesh, one of the pioneers in the business along with his wife Malti Devi.The bee-keeping duo, after setting up base in the outskirts of Ranchi a few years ago, today extract 1,500 kg of honey every year with each kg bringing in Rs 50-60.These bee-keepers have also done their bit to keep abreast with the latest trends to ensure higher production.A case in point is the breeding of an Italian bee variety called Mellifera, which they say produce more honey than the indigenous variety. The Italian bees were domesticated by keeping them inside wooden boxes—each with a colony of Mellifera—through the year, says Devi.According to her, the honey-gathering process starts when the bee-keeper places boxes of bees (colonies) along the highways that are dotted with Karang and Sarguja trees, two main sources of flower nectar in this state. ‘‘Three months later, after each box becomes heavy, we know the honey is ready,’’ says Devi.
