The Departments of Agriculture and Forests have joined hands to promote the sale of honey collected from the forest regions of Achencoil.
The forest produce, which has a distinct taste and medicinal value, will be available at the Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation (Horticorp) and the Agro-Industries Corporation under the name ‘Achenkovil Honey,’ the Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.
Agriculture Minister V. S. Sunil Kumar inaugurated the initiative by presenting the product to Forest Minister K. Raju here on Wednesday.
The Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSS) under the Forest Department had collected the honey from forests in the Achencoil region during the COVID-19 lockdown period. As part of helping bee farmers hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Horticorp is promoting the sale of honey and value-added products under its ‘Honey Challenge’.
The Horticorp brand ‘Amrut Honey’ is already available at the Horticorp outlets. Horticorp also plans to form clusters for promoting beekeeping and allied industries. Each cluster, to be formed at the grama panchayat or block panchayat level, will have 40 to 50 farmers. Special clusters will be formed for tribal areas in this regard.
Horticorp managing director Sajeev J. and Achenkovil DFO B. Santhosh Kumar also were present at the launch.