PANAJI:
Goa's Suprajit Raikar will be one among twelve "progressive beekeepers" who will be honoured at a National Conference to be held in Bangalore on Thursday.
Raikar and the other bee-keepers will be honoured by the Horticulture Commissioner of the Central government Dr Prabhat Kumar.
The conference 'New Frontiers in Apiculture' is being organised by the University of Agriculture Sciences, Bangalore.
Taking up bee-keeping as a venture in Goa picked up pace after the Covid pandemic hit in early 2020. The Goa Khadi and Village Industries Board, supports the activity and basic training in beekeeping is offered by the Goa government’s Krishi Vigyan Kendra.
Benaulim-based Raikar’s venture, Raika & Co. is a social enterprise that promotes beekeeping and organic farming and aims to increase agricultural productivity besides giving marginal farmers access to markets
A software engineer turned beekeeper, Raikar's company sells locally produced honey pan-India under the brand name Raika Honey.
He began bee-keeping as a hobby but went commercial, registering his company and the brand of honey in 2016.
