Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar visited Bee Research Station at Nagrota Bagwan in Kangra district on Monday. The BRS Nagrota Bagwan was established in 1936 under the leadership of Dr. Sardar Singh under administrative control of Agriculture department, Government of Punjab, Lyallpur, now in Pakistan. Special attempts were made to import European honeybee in India during 1930 to 1953 but these attempts failed due to lack of knowledge. The success in establishing Apis Mellifera in India dates back to 1960 whereas it was successfully introduced in 1964 at this research station. The Governor appreciated the efforts of the Agriculture University under which this research station is running and said that it needs to be modernised. He said that a proposal to declare this centre as Heritage has been sent to the centre Government and he hoped that it would be declared as Heritage soon.
He said that 2.64 lakh honey production units were in the country and about 30 lakh honeybee colonies were in India. During 2020-21 the honey production was nearly 1,25,000 MT, he added and said that India ranked 8th in World Ranking in honey production. He said that near about 2,365 number of bee keepers were in Himachal Pradesh and 5515.25 MT was annual honey production registered in the state. He said that there was vast demand of honey production in the state and hoped that the research would be helpful in developing varieties in this direction. The Governor also visited the laboratory and also evinced their interest in the method of beekeeping. Earlier, Prof. H.K. Chaudhary, Vice Chancellor of Agriculture University welcomed the Governor and also apprised about the activities, research and extension work. Local MLA Arun Kumar Mehra, Deputy Commissioner, Kangra Nipun Jindal, Superintendent of Police Khushal Sharma and other prominent people were also present on the occasion.
