Live
- ED raids premises of Vizag ex-MP
- 73-yr-old advocate donates blood 120 times
- Minister burnt MUDA files to shield Siddaramaiah: Shobha Karandlaje
- IND vs NZ: New Zealand beat India by eight wickets to win first Test; record first Test win in India in 36 years
- Indian-American Influence in US Elections and US-India Relations
- CB apprises judicial panel of progress in probe
- Kumaraswamy confident of returning as CM by 2028
- Kishan Reddy Announces Sleeper Coaches for Hyderabad’s Vande Bharat Trains, New Plans for MMTS Services
- NU’s 2,000 KWp solar power plant on table, to slash electricity bill by Rs 3 cr annually
- Revamp of stations in northern railway launched
Not so sweet: Wild honey collection in Nallamala takes a knock
Collection of wild honey by tribals in Nallamala forests has come down drastically in the last five years. Though the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) is imparting training to Chenchu youth on modern methods of honey collection, but the tribals’ response to the initiative is lukewarm.
Atmakuru: Collection of wild honey by tribals in Nallamala forests has come down drastically in the last five years. Though the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) is imparting training to Chenchu youth on modern methods of honey collection, but the tribals’ response to the initiative is lukewarm.
- Chenchu youth unresponsive to modern methods of collection
- Curbs on movement in forest area also cited as one of the reasons for decline in collection
During 2015-16, 9.57 quintals of honey was collected, whereas 238 quintals was collected in 2015-16. The vocation of collection of honey has almost disappeared. The wild honey remained untapped in the forest areas.
In the 10,416-sq km Nallamala forest, tiger sanctuary is spread over 3,568 sq km. In the sanctuary, honey combs are found everywhere on trees and rocks. Rock bee honey production centres are identified at Atmakuru, Srisailam and Markapuram.
The number of honey collecting families from Atmakuru, Sivapuram, Pechhervu, Ahobilam, Bairluti and Gundlabrahmeswaram has come down to 100 from 300. With the Atmakuru Wild Life Division declared as tiger zone, the Chenchus are not being allowed into the forest area for collection of honey. In Allagadda region, strictures are imposed on venturing into the forest on account of red sanders’ smuggling.
With the increase of temperature and reduction of rainfall, the queen bee and other bees migrated to forest areas of Karnataka. Radiation from cell towers, environmental pollution and application of pesticides to crops had impacted 60 per cent of the honey combs in the Nallamala forest area. The reproduction rate among the honey bees has drastically come down.
Moreover, the honey collection has also come down with the Chenchu woman switching over to other livelihood avenues availing loans under Velugu programme and started rearing goats and milch cattle. As a result, the honey collection activity has almost disappeared. Due to denial of entry into the forests by the forest officials and fear of bear attacks the Chenchus are not venturing into the forests.
By M Sathya Peter
