Uzbekistan keen to develop beekeeping

By Kamila Aliyeva

Honey, a healthy foodstuff which improves human nutrition and boosts immunity, has long tradition as a food source in Uzbekistan.

Currently, beekeeping continues to develop dynamically in this Central Asian country. Special attention paid to the development of beekeeping and saturation of the domestic market with affordable and high-quality products has a positive impact on the expansion of honey production.

This year it is planned to produce more than 1,700 tons of honey in the Fergana region, UzA reported.

Uzbekistan pays special attention to the further development of beekeeping and wide popularization of best practices in the field. The consistent reforms implemented in Uzbekistan serve to ensure abundance in the markets, supplying the population with quality and affordable vitamin products.

Annual honey making in Uzbekistan remains quite low, fluctuating around the mark of 13,000 tons.

Bees and products of their life activity is a real gift of nature to people, however, long-standing roots and traditional methods do not prevent beekeeping from remaining an actual business idea.

Association of beekeepers of the Fergana region is carrying out large-scale work on further development of the industry. The Association, which previously consisted of 10-15 beekeepers, now unites more than 1,200 qualified specialists in its ranks. Among them there are a lot of those whose experience is studied and highly valued not only in Uzbekistan, but also abroad. Together with their families, they raise up to 1,500-2,000 bee colonies.

Special attention is paid to strengthening cooperation with specialists from the United States, Israel, Russia, Spain, Canada, Switzerland and other countries, studying and making extensive use of their experience. Beekeepers throughout the year exported more than 30,000 bee queens and received a good income.

Beekeepers of the Fergana region have established an exchange of experience with their colleagues from Israel. Their experience of obtaining large volumes of quality honey was well studied and widely introduced in the region.

Beekeeping from an ecological point of view is definitely a "green" business, which makes it even more attractive. Bees pollinate not only fruit trees and flowering herbs, but also agricultural crops, increasing their yield by 30-40 percent and increasing the productivity of land.

Beekeeping farms receive honey and beekeeping products for 10 billion soums per year, while 120 billion soums of profit is received due to pollination of cotton, wheat and other plants. In this regard, opportunities will be created to expand and improve the effectiveness of this work at the level of modern requirements.

Earlier, the training center under the Association was created. The center has a research laboratory, training halls, a specialized library, an electronic archival database, a workshop for processing and packaging honey, a sewing workshop as well as a workshop for making wax frames, equipment and beehives. A special school for the training of young beekeepers has been opened.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited this training center during his trip to the Fergana region in June and familiarized with the work carried out here. He also gave instructions on the development of beekeeping and training of specialists in this sphere. At present, large-scale work is being carried out in this direction.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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