JAMMU : To acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators in the ecosystem and to create awareness about honeybee culture among the stakeholder, the AICRP Honeybee and Pollinators, Division of Entomology, SKUAST-Jammu on Friday organized a programme to mark the World Honey Bee Day.

On this occasion, Prof. J.P. Sharma, Vice Chancellor Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu was the Chief Guest.

The Honeybee and other products testing Lab funded by National Bee Board under National Beekeeping and Honey Bee Mission worth Rs.1.03 crore was also inaugurated today virtually by Narendar Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India in the presence of Kailash Choudhary, Minister of state, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India and officials of National Bee Board, Government of India.

During the event, the Union Minister also interacted virtually with the progressive beekeeper Janak Raj promoted under AICRP Honeybee and Pollinators, SKUAST-Jammu.

Later, the laboratory was physically inaugurated by Prof. J.P. Sharma, Vice Chancellor in the Division of Entomology, SKUAST-Jammu .

The Vice Chancellor, in his address, said that the newly inaugurated lab will facilitate beekeepers of Jammu division for getting honey quality test conducted to check the given product for its purity and ensure all the components are within their permissible limits. He further said that Bee keeping is a very attractive and lucrative entrepreneurship development process. Prof. Sharma encouraged students to opt for vocational education and entrepreneurship development which is also the main focus of NEP-2020.

The programme was attended by Dr. Pardeep Wali Director Research, Dr. S. K. Gupta, Director Extension, Dr. A. K. Mondal, Dean Faculty of Agriculture, Dr. S. E. H. Rizvi, Dean Faculty of Basic Sciences, Dr. S. K. Gupta Registrar, Sh. Madan Lal, Comptroller, Dr. R. K. Gupta, Head, Entomology; Dr. Amrish Vaid, Nodal Officer, Media Cell, Dr. R.S. Bandral, Dr. Uma Shankar, Dr. A. K. Sigh, Dr. Magdehswar Sharma and Dr. Kamlesh Bali. The students and faculty members from Women College Parade and Central University Jammu, officials from Department of Agriculture, progressive beekeepers and entrepreneurs; members of Entomological Society also attended the programme. The proceedings of the programme were conducted by Dr. Devinder Sharma, PI AICRP Honeybee and Pollinators.