Agrinews January 2013 - Ministry of Agriculture

Sustaining Honeybees
Article:: Joseph Ramodisa
Photos: Johnson Kgakatsi
The big lesson in beekeeping in this
country is this, the way we treat the
natural world has repercussions
way beyond the immediately obvious.
Our destruction of rainforests and other
habitats in the name of development
has triggered irreversible, cumulative
cycles of species loss, soil erosion and
climate change.
This could be seen as a clear sign why
honey production remains a concern,
lack of forage, water and availability of
active colonies.
Malau Gabaipone a honeybee keeper
at Motshegaletau says lack of forage and
water around beekeeping projects to
be the major challenges in production.
He said
with lack of perennial forage vegetation,
honey producer will be forced to feed
their colonies with
sugar, the practice
he described as
affecting the
quality of honey
in this country.
“Testing
of honey is
already here
in order to
keep it in
competitive
q u a l i t y
standards,” he said. “We, as honey
producers we are dedicated to
producing an organic honey.”
In order to produce quality standards
of honey, Gabaipone said National
Food Technology Research Centre and
Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS)
must be within their vicinity for easy
access of their service since they are
the one with technical knowhow when
it comes to food safety.
Gabaipone said their dedication
will be cut short by the fact that the
environmental condition around many
beekeeping projects does not allow the
perennial growth of good flowering
plant species.
In an effort to confront these obstacles,
Gabaipone usually grow maize crop
for his colonies of 16 hives to collect
pollen and nectar. At the same, he said
these bees help in speeding pollination
of maize.
He prefers to use a hybrid 403 of maize
which he described as even better than
sunflower when it comes to pollen and
nectar, products that bees depend on
for their maintenance and production.
Without addressing all these, it
seems to Gabaipone that beekeeping
in this country especially the small
scale beekeeping will not sustain in
its present form. We need to re-think
our management methods from top
to bottom, or face an unprecedented
decline in honey production.
Concerning the availability of active
colonies, Gabaipone, calls for
agricultural research to come with
traits of bees that are productive in
order to improve the honey in this
country. However, Gabaipone
concluded that, honey will forever
depend more on the weather than
any other single factor. Though the
government is supportive in this
sector, he said bees are suffering
from unprecedented levels of
forage and water in and around
apicultural projects.
W h e n
clarifying on lack of research and
productive bees’ traits to improve
the honey production, Margerat
Yellow-and-black-bees
Mutekela from the bee keeping section
in the Ministry of Agriculture said
the honey bees’ species that is found
this country is Apis mellifera which
is native to Africa and is known to be
highly industrious compared to other
bee races. “If managed well it can have
good returns,” she said.
She acknowledged that indeed
there is a limited research in this
area of agricultural sector but
in 2006 a research was
conducted on commercialization of
Beekeeping in Botswana. T h e
study, she explained, was to assess
and determine appropriate beekeeping
technologies and management with a
view of enhancing honey production
levels and promoting sustainable and
competitive beekeeping industry.
In order to attain the sustainability of
this sector, Mutekela said there is a
need to form a forum that can discuss
this aspect with stakeholders such
as University of Botswana, Botswana
College of Agriculture and Agricultural
Research.
The remedy, as well as the blame, for
the current state of beekeeping lies
with beekeepers themselves, due
to poor management practices. She
complained that Beekeepers do not
follow the right management practices
such as migratory beekeeping and
timely harvesting hence resulting in
loss of honey and splitting of colonies.
FODDER PRODUCTION
Legumes provide both pods and leaves consumed by animal as
fodder due to their characteristics the domesticated are, Siratro,
Leucaena locapala, Stylosanthes guianensis, Dolichos lablab.
also a major component of production
inputs to run machineries with costs.
Fodder production it is task of
producing crops that are specifically
planted to produce feed for livestock.
The crops are usually not grazed or
browsed at the field they are harvested
and processed to during dry season.
The crops respond positively to the
standard recommend management
practices such as good seedbed
preparation, planted in time when
soil moisture is adequate and proper
weeding. Increased quantity (biomass)
and quality when timely harvested
whole the plant including utilization
of residues such husks if properly dried
and stored in well ventilated structures
( fodder bans).
There are major two components of
fodder rations
ENERGY CROPS PROVIDERS
Most of crops belong to family
gramineae like maize, millet, sugar
cane; sorghum can be used, by being
harvested during flowering stage and
slowly dried and stored while still
maintaining greenish color. Top leaves
of groundnuts, jugo beans can also be
processed the same way and be added
as one package. The other methods to
preserve the above crops are by cutting
them when still fresh and make silage
out them.
Grasses species such as Cenchrus
ciliaris, Digitria eratnha Napier,aClhoris
guyana and many others can be planted
and grazed as standing hay (in the field),
or dried baled as Hay. Other exotic
species such as Silk, Sudan halipense
sorghums are common in the country
and can be propagated as fodder, not
excluding many others. Amongst the
above stated exotic species Napier is
preferred to do silage or cut and curry
because of it gives higher yield per ha
(can be harvested in every 6months
and give up to 7tones per ha).
Other plants which provide production
feeds are sunflower, groundnuts,
Jatropha, Neem; Moringa fed as
cakes after oil has been extracted
and plants such as especially for oil
filtered for various purposes, eatable,
cosmetics, the most that can benefit
livestock industry is when the same oil
combined with alcohol like menthol or
ethanol to produce bio-fuel to run farm
machineries.
We all understand that factor for
production is vital in achieving great
goals in agriculture. They include
Land, machineries/equipment, and
manpower and technology transfer. The
continuous land utility in production
need replenished nutrients by chemical
fertilizers which are much costly; fuel is
Therefore reduction of costs is one
fundamental phenomenon safest to
agricultural investment that increases
food to our increasing population. The
costs of variable inputs of production
such as fertilizers, fuel, and pesticides
become a barrier towards wide
production to be self sufficient in
agricultural products which are the
most basic needs of human existence.
It is important to nature care the
land, pest using natural resources and
organic materials in the sense of costs
reduction. I have in previous shared
with all of you about some tree species
such Moringa and Jatropha currently
I have discovered NEEM which could
boast agriculture in many ways which
survive very well in our climatic
condition
These trees need to be incorporated
in our agricultural practices to aid in
organic operation such fertilizers, pest
control and reductions of costs by
utilizing other natural resources wisely
and profitably.
PRODUCTION FEED CROPS
Legumes are crops that have significant
contribution in fodder production,* as
a major of source protein provider;
with vital contribution to agric-socio
economic values.
(1) Amongst those that are domestically
planted, build soils structure through
their tap roots that penetrate soils
breaking the soil particles further to
reset soil aggregates. They utilize
14 15
deeper nutrients and water which other
plants are unable reach, to breakeven
competition among plants in the same
areas.
(2) Have the ability to fix atmospheric
N2 through the Rhyzobia species
that ultimately become available to
other plants which give other crops
advantage to grow vigorously at same
time cut costs of artificial nitrogen
fertilizer to the soils.
(3) Other legumes enhance high forage
and have broad leaves that mulch the
soils resulting in reduction of water
evaporation hence conserve soil
moisture for plants sustainability. The
above characteristics symbolized the
crops to be highly nutritious feed and
be regarded as production feed.
Legumes provide both pods and leaves
consumed animal as fodder due to
their characteristics the domesticated
are, Siratro, Leucaena locapala,
Stylosanthes guianensis, Dolichos
lablab. Dolichos lablab is among
others the best and common legume
produced in the country and fed to
cattle, goats, ostrich, poultry, goats,
donkeys and sheep. It has shown the
best results recognized and enjoyed by
the farmers one advantage with lablab
yields more than other legumes, it is
SPECIES USES agriculture COMMENTS
Moringa tree Seeds produces Oil combined with menthol or
-Eatable and Bio fuel
ethanol produce Bio fuel (diesel)
-Cake after extraction of The trees present at Mahalapye,
oil is good for fodder Letlhakane, and Maun
-Leaves wet & dried leaves
increase weight gain and milk
-Water purifier
-Fertilizer ( Plant enhancer)
-Pest control
Jatropha Seeds produces Mentholated produces diesel
-Oil for lubricant
to run machineries
Cake after extraction of oil is Are present in Tonota
good for fodder
Neem Seeds produces Add menthol or Ethanol end
(Azadirachta indica) -Oil Bio fuel product diesel
-Cake after extraction of oil seen in Serowe
is good for fodder
-Fertilizer ( Plant enhancer)
-Pest control
SUNFLOWER - Seeds Produces eatable oil. The plants are planted arable
-Husks used as fodder around the country.
- Cake after extraction of
oil is good for fodder
palatable that herding of these animals
become a relief to farmers because they
do range and come back to homestead
to look for lablab.
They are wild legumes such as
Dichrostachys ceneria (moselesele),
Acacia tortilis (Mosu), Acacia
erubescenes (Moloto) which can be
collected and nicely stored to be used
as Fodder especially to small stock.
Fodder production in Botswana is
recognized insignificantly despite the
adverse conditions that act negatively
towards productivity of livestock
and Small stock which 80% farming
communities are basically depend on
continued on next page
January 2013 January 2013