Jharkhand is yet to set up its Honey Board, despite the Centre having sent directives to all States.
The National Honey Board has been set up for twin purposes - as a mission for promotion of bee keeping and honey and to improve income generation to bee keepers.
The stress is on organic production.
The State Government would do well to initiate the process since it has vibrant natural reserves. Some villages in Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR) area produce 1,000 litre of honey in a season. Winter is said to be the best season for honey due to profuse flowering.
PTR Divisional Forest Officer (Buffer) AK Mishra said a list of 21 bee keepers from the buffer area and 15 from the core area of the tiger reserve has already been sent to the nodal officer, the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, who has been asked by the State Government to deal with honey and bee-keeping.
There is no word as of yet on when these 36 farmers will get their training in bee keeping and honey extraction.
About a dozen villages falling in the contiguity of PTR - Henaar, Harmu, Doma Kharn, Saraideeh, Pokhri, Dorami and Morwai - have been shortlisted for large scale for honey production.
An extraction plant had existed in Betla but is now closed.