University’s innovative use of honeybee colonies revolutionises oilseed farming, driving significant yield increases and economic benefits in the region

India faces the deficit in oilseed production and higher dependence on imports to cater to the growing population’s demand for edible oil. In Jammu & Kashmir, local oilseed production staggers at 3.36 lakh quintals while the demand soars at 14.20 lakh, with a deficit of 76% being catered through regional and national imports. Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K), in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, has been instrumental in transforming oilseed production under the umbrella of the Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP) Project, Promotion of Oilseeds, in Jammu & Kashmir.
The target achievement for doubling oilseed production demands the introduction of varieties with higher yield potential vis-à-vis increasing cultivated land under the crop. The standing crop in farmers’ fields is subject to various abiotic and biotic stresses such as weather vagaries, inadequate/deficient pollination, insect pests, and diseases. As a result, the realized yield obtained in farmers’ fields is usually lower than the potential yield. The gap between potential yield and realized yield is to be minimized by suitable scientific intervention.
In the last few decades, SKUAST-K has devised ways in the form of the introduction of high-yielding varieties specifically tailored for the cold climate of the region and seed replacement of in-vogue better-yielding ones, to revolutionize the oilseed production scenario in the Kashmir valley. The release of better-yielding varieties of Brown Sarson – Lotni ecotypes like Shalimar Sarson-1 (SS-1), Shalimar Sarson-2 (SS-2), and Shalimar Sarson-3 (SS-3) resulted in a head start for boosting oilseed production in the region. The cold-tolerant character of the Lotni ecotype makes possible the survival of the crop population in the winter of the growing zone.
Although Brown Sarson is cross-pollinated and avails qualitative as well as quantitative benefits in seed set and subsequent yield through honeybee-aided pollination, the Lotni ecotype is essentially self-incompatible. This necessitates cross-pollination with the aid of external agents. In the oilseed-growing states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, managing pollination in the crop by placing honeybee hives in the oilseed fields has been at the forefront of getting higher returns from the crop.
Honeybees are attracted to mustard flowers due to their bright yellow petals and the presence of nectar and pollen, which serve as important food sources for the bees. When bees visit Lotni mustard flowers to collect nectar and pollen, they inadvertently transfer pollen grains from the stamens (male reproductive organs) to the stigma (female reproductive organ) of other flowers, facilitating cross-pollination. This cross-pollination is essential for genetic diversity within the plant population, which leads to increased vigour and better crop yields. As honeybees forage among the flowers, they transfer pollen from flower to flower, ensuring fertilization and the subsequent development of seeds.
The seed yield of mustard has been observed to increase by 15-20% if pollination of the mustard crop is facilitated with honeybee colonies in comparison to natural pollination. Honey bees contribute to mustard pollination by increasing the number of pods per plant by 15% and the number of seeds per pod by 10%. The mean seed yield per plant has been observed to increase by 15%. That means we can harvest an additional two quintals per hectare of mustard crop if we place honeybee colonies. The scientific intervention of placing honeybee colonies @ 2-3 colonies per hectare is sufficient to ensure good pollination in the crop. The beekeepers of north Indian states are prompted to explore the oilseed fields in the twin states with the intention of pollination management in the crop. In return, the rental honeybee hives harvest as much as 15-30 kilograms of unifloral mustard honey per colony in the season. As an added advantage of the colonies building bee populations rapidly, beekeepers are able to have colony divisions and increase the number of colonies with them.
The Brown Sarson-Beekeeping model has been very successful in generating higher income directly as a result of increasing seed/oil yields and indirectly by the sale of honey, bee colonies, and other bee by-products. Kashmir is witnessing a ‘Yellow revolution’ with rapeseed-mustard cultivation picking up momentum after interventions of SKUAST-K and the Department of Agriculture. In an exemplary model, the area under mustard cultivation has increased almost five times in the last couple of years.
In Kashmir conditions, the natural pollination through the agency of wind and wild bee pollinators in the crop can be augmented. Being completely dependent on external agents for pollination, the lotni ecotypes respond significantly to managed pollination using honeybees in terms of qualitative and quantitative increase in seed set and yield.
SKUAST Kashmir has successfully adopted the Brown Sarson-Beekeeping model for honeybee-aided pollination in the oilseed crop and added an economic advantage at its Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops (MRCFC), Khudwani research station. During last year’s study, European honeybee (Apis mellifera) hives were placed in the oilseed growing plots to record the response of the crop to pollination intervention/Managed pollination. Brown Sarson yield observed in honeybee foraging plots was 25-30% higher in comparison with caged plants wherein only wind pollination was permitted. The bee-pollinated plants had higher seed sets in terms of the number of seeds per siliqua and the number of siliqua per spike. The individual seeds were bold. The honeybee-pollinated plots matured a week early and provided good land preparation time ahead of the main crop (Rice) to be cultivated in the same plots.
With the area under cultivation of the oilseed crop increasing substantially, Brown Sarson’s farming system holds a good place for supporting the beekeeping industry as well. Bee colonies The Honey yield of 5-10 kgs/hive was also harvested from these bee colonies foraging on mustard fields at the centre. With consumers looking for locally produced edible oil and increasing prices of the same, farmers need to capitalize on the opportunity and tie up the loose ends in the production system of Brown Sarson. This calls for ensuring proper pollination by placing honeybee hives in the fields. Honeybees not only enhance the yield attributing characters of Brown Sarson crop but also enable uniform and early pod setting and maturity. With pollination intervention, farmers are able to get a longer time window for land preparation of rice crops, leading to a successful Rice-Brown Sarson Cropping System. Thus, pollination through the use of honeybee colonies is to be integrated into the production technology module of oilseed in a manner that boosts oilseed production in the state.
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Uzma Arifie, Bashir Ahmad Rather, Najeebul Rehman Sofi