facebooktwittertelegramwhatsapp
copy short urlprintemail
+ A
A -
webmaster
Tribune News Network
Doha
THE Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), represented by the Agricultural Affairs Department, has taken several measures in the recent past to boost honey production in Qatar within the framework of its food security efforts.
The ministry also aims to help farm owners increase and diversify their income through bee keeping.
The Agricultural Affairs Department supports and encourages bee keeping activities in the country under the National Honeybee Project and the efforts have started yielding positive results.
Honey production, which increased to about 13,230 kilograms in 2019, is set to increase further in 2020 because of the ministry’s proactive efforts in this direction.
The number of queen bees (queen bee refers to an adult, mated female in a hive), for example, went up to 987 this year, which were distributed to the active farms after ascertaining their quality, in order to enhance honey production. As many as 510 queen bees were distributed to 18 farms between January and April itself, while efforts are on to produce queen bees in the nursery.
It is worth mentioning that 1,300 bee hives were distributed to 130 farms between 2013 and 2016. Furthermore, the Agricultural Affairs Department has been working consistently since 2016 to promote beekeeping in the country.
The ministry also provides technical support and training for supervisors and beekeepers on breeding and producing honey while offering them the necessary guidance.
It is noteworthy that the department collected the best queen bees from most farms and transferred them to Umm Qarn apiary between 2016 and 2019. Assistance in the raising of queens at the nursery and methods of manual breeding were also provided to the farmers.
copy short url   Copy
12/07/2020
3683