Bokaro To Launch 'Bokaro Brand' Honey to Boost Farmer Income and Agricultural Identity

Bokaro: The district administration is planning to launch ‘Bokaro Brand’ of the honey collected from beekeeping units to boost farmers’ income and strengthen the district’s agricultural identity. District officials said the initiative focuses on branding, market access, and rural livelihood generation.According to deputy commissioner Ajay Nath Jha, around 150 farmers were trained for bee farming they were now in the process of setting up their own bee farms. Jha also directed officials concerned to train more farmers for massive bee farming in the district, and honey produced from these farms would be branded and marketed under the proposed Bokaro Brand. The directive was issued during a review meeting of agriculture and allied departments held at the collectorate on Friday. Shatabdi Majumdar, the deputy development commissioner, along with additional collector Md Mumtaz Ansari and others attended the meeting. The DC also asked officials to work proactively to ensure the timely delivery of benefits to the farmers.“Branding of locally produced pure honey will help enhance the farmers’ incomes while positioning Bokaro as a hub of agriculture-based innovation,” he said.District agriculture officer Mohammad Sahid said bee farming is one of the components under the project, Samekit Birsa Vikas Gram-cum-Krihak Pathsala, launched earlier.The DC asked the officials to focus on each of the components, creating awareness among the farmers about agriculture, dairy, animal husbandry, fisheries, horticulture, and others.Besides bee farming, decisions were also taken to set up a mushroom production unit at the Navadih Krishak Pathshala, promote millets through a cafeteria under the Millet Mission, develop clusters for solar pumps, and identify land for warehouse construction under the cooperation department.