By Aluta News
Aug 23, 2023
An expert in bee-keeping (apiculturist), Mr David Musa, has said that Plateau has the potential of increasing, by 60 per cent, its cash crop earnings through bee keeping .
Musa disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Wednesday.
He described beekeeping as the only livestock enterprise that had direct impact on the outcome of cash crop earnings and should be explored by Plateau people.
He said that apiculture, which is the practice of bee keeping and manufacturing of honey and beeswax, is 60 per cent less costly than half of all livestock enterprises.
He further said that the business is 40 per cent more viable than 60 per cent of all cash crops.
Musa said, “Bee keeping is the chief source of the only natural sweetener of animal origin that is available in commercial quantity.”
According to him, marketing of bee products requires knowledge of its products and their values, identification of consumers and their preferences and best channel of delivery to markets, amongst others.
The expert, who is also the President of Bee Farmers in Plateau, said that exploring the potential of bee keeping required multisectoral collaboration, equipping prospective farmers and other stakeholders with the requisite knowledge.
“Less than 30 per cent of the potential of the bee keeping industry in Plateau is being realised due to poor knowledge base of the value chain, modern bee keeping techniques and effective extension,” he said.
Musa said that global best practice in the apiculture industry is concerned with maximum quality, where products must comply to professional standard, be unadulterated and its production processes not manipulated.
He said that the best practice also includes eliminating contamination through ensuring production tools and sites are clean and safe.
He said that compliance to food safety standards and environmental accountability was necessary to ensure zero harm to bio-diversity and eco-system balance.
Musa said that the products must be traceable and have capacity of upscale to meet increasing demand.
NAN