Kavitha demands govt to set up honey bee, sericulture research & development centres

Replying to a question raised by BRS member K Kavitha, the Agriculture Minister said there was no proposal to set up Honey Bee Research and Development centres at Bhadrachalam and Asifabad districts.

Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageshwara Rao on Monday informed the Legislative Council that there was no proposal to set up honey bee and sericulture research and development centres in the State.

Replying to a question raised by BRS member K Kavitha, the Agriculture Minister said there was no proposal to set up Honey Bee Research and Development centres at Bhadrachalam and Asifabad districts . He further clarified that there was no proposal to set up Sericulture Research and Development centres at Nagarkurnool and Jagtial districts either.

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Speaking on the issue, Kavitha said sericulture and honey bee farming was taken up by the tribals and farmers as part of the intercropping activities and if a research and development centres were established it would be very helpful to them. She said during the previous BRS government about 15,000 honey bee centres were set up in the State to help the tribals.

Stating that there were about 640 vacancies in the Sericulture Department and about 400 employees were slated to retire soon from the department, she urged the government to fill the posts with post graduate and diploma holder students. She also asked the government to release Rs. 800 crore pending bills of Silk Reeling Industries.