Business

World Bee Day: Depending on the survival of bees

Published

4 years ago

May 21, 2021

The UN General Assembly has designated May 20 as World Bee Day to raise awareness of the importance of bees, support for beekeeping and the effects of bee pollination on sustainable development of agriculture and food supply.

According to the UN, bees are under threat. Present species extinction rates are 100 to 1,000 times higher than normal due to human impacts.

Close to 35 percent of invertebrate pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, and about 17 percent of vertebrate pollinators, such as bats, face extinction globally.

If this trend continues, nutritious crops, such as fruits, nuts and many vegetable crops will be substituted increasingly by staple crops like rice, corn and potatoes, eventually resulting in an imbalanced diet.

But government, farmers and ordinary citizens can play their part to make sure bees do not become extinct.

Individually people can plant a diverse set of native plants, which flower at different times of the year; buying raw honey from local farmers; buying products from sustainable agricultural practices; avoiding pesticides, fungicides or herbicides in our gardens; protect wild bee colonies when possible; make a bee water fountain by leaving a water bowl outside; and raising awareness by sharing this information within our communities and networks.

Beekeepers and farmers can also help by reducing, or changing the usage of pesticides; diversifying crops as much as possible, and/or planting attractive crops around the field.

Governments in turn can strengthen the participation of local communities in decision-making, in particular that of indigenous people, who know and respect ecosystems and biodiversity; enforcing strategic measures, including monetary incentives to help change; increasing collaboration between national and international organizations, organizations and academic and research networks to monitor and evaluate pollination services.

The number of beekeepers have meanwhile grown in Afghanistan over the past few years and today local honey production exceeds the two metric ton mark.

Akbar Rustami, director of information and spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), said recently that honey production reached 2,490 metric tons in Afghanistan last solar year.

According to Rustami, Paktia topped the list with 899 tons of honey, followed by Nangarhar with 500 tons and Khost with 416 tons, which are the most important honey producers in the country. Herat, Laghman, Badakhshan, Kunduz and Bamyan are also on the list of major honey producing provinces.

Rustami said recently that there are currently 6,757 large and small beekeeping farms across the country, most of them in Badghis, Herat, Badakhshan, Paktia, Kunduz, Daikundi, Bamyan, Logar, Sar-e-Pul, Farah, Maidan Wardak, Kapisa, Takhar, Baghlan and Khost provinces.

Rustami said that Badghis with 722, Herat with 593, Paktia with 550 and Badakhshan with 526 beekeeping farms are at the top of the beekeeping table.

Beekeeping is growing as a lucrative business and its products have a good domestic and foreign market.

One kilo of pure honey is sold in the domestic market from 500 to two thousand afghanis, depending on its type.

Meanwhile, the amount of honey production in 1398 had reached two thousand and one hundred tons, and this figure has increased by 390 tons in the past year.

Related Topics:#Honey Beekeepers bees featured World Bee Day

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Daily truck clearances at Torkham drop from 400-500 to 5-10

Published

1 week ago

December 13, 2024

Ariana News

Pakistan’s Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) has said that daily truck clearances at Torkham crossing have declined from 400-500 to 5-10.

SCCI President Fazal Muqeem Khan said this at the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry to promote bilateral trade and cooperation.

He said the volume of trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan had fallen from $3 billion to $1 billion annually.

Fazal Muqeem also highlighted the adverse impact of the 2% Infrastructure Development Cess (IDC) imposed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on trade and transit.

Business

Turkish scholars, charity officials assess investment prospects in Afghanistan

Officials pledged to encourage Turkish investors to explore and capitalize on investment opportunities in Afghanistan

Published

2 weeks ago

December 10, 2024

Ariana News

Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of Energy and Water, Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor, met with a delegation of Turkish scholars and officials from the Adif Charity Foundation on Tuesday to discuss various political, religious, and social issues.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Water, Mullah Mansoor praised Adif’s humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan and highlighted the country’s ample resources for energy production.

He emphasized that Afghanistan currently offers a favorable environment for investment in all sectors, assuring the Turkish delegation of the Islamic Emirate’s commitment to ensuring the safety and security of investors and their assets.

In response, Adif officials pledged to encourage Turkish investors to explore and capitalize on investment opportunities in Afghanistan, signaling a potential boost in economic and developmental cooperation between the two nations.

Business

Uzbek envoy to Pakistan discusses Trans-Afghan Railway project with Pakistani minister

The Trans-Afghan Railway project is expected to serve as a powerful stimulus for trade and economic integration among numerous countries in the region

Published

2 weeks ago

December 9, 2024

Ariana News

Regional connectivity projects including the Termez-Kabul railway line, the Trans-Afghan Railway, and the multimodal Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan transport corridor, are key to the region’s success, the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Pakistan Alisher Tukhtayev said during a meeting with Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Friday.

The two officials discussed a range of issues as well as coordinating efforts to ensure stability and deepen economic integration in the region.

Asif however pointed out that Tashkent has become an important hub for regional cooperation, Pakistani media reported Monday.

Special focus was given to the implementation of the Trans-Afghan Railway project, which is expected to serve as a powerful stimulus for trade-economic integration to numerous countries.

The ambassador said the governments of Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are actively cooperating in the implementation of joint economic and infrastructure projects and one of them is the construction of the Trans-Afghan Railway.

He said the “Termez-Kabul-Peshawar” railway project plays an important role in restoring ties of regional connectivity between Central and South Asia.

He added that once the project is launched, the volume of trade will increase significantly and shipping costs will decrease.

Tukhtayev said the railway connectivity will contribute hugely to regional stability and overall prosperity by aiding Afghanistan’s economic recovery.

He also said the project will facilitate the delivery of Uzbek goods to world markets through Pakistani ports and will open up a new route for Pakistan to export its products to Central Asian, and European markets.

According to him, the Trans-Afghan railway will be able to carry up to 20 million tons of cargo per year, and transportation costs will decrease by 30-35% and timing of deliveries will be cut from two weeks to three to four days.

He also stated that the international cooperation project on the development of the multimodal transport corridor Belarus-Russia-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Afghanistan–Pakistan is being actively promoted.

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