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NEW DELHI: Prospective infiltrators and smugglers who try to cross from Bangladesh into India may soon get a stinging response and a swollen face, with the Border Security Force (BSF) launching a combined scheme of beekeeping and medicinal plant cultivation as a pilot project along the fence on the India-Bangladesh border.
Under this scheme, bee boxes will be installed along with fencing, keeping them slightly above the ground.Some flowering plants will be planted around the boxes and a natural habitat created by arranging shade over the boxes. “It is expected that these bees will act as ‘bee warriors‘ to prevent intruders and smugglers from cutting the fence. By attacking them, they will play an important role in preventing the fence from being cut,” a senior BSF officer said.
The scheme will benefit residents of border villages by creating new employment opportunities like beekeeping and cultivation of various types of medicinal plants like black tulsi, ekangi, satmuli, ashwagandha, aloe vera etc.
The commercial selling price of these plants is higher than normally cultivated products. They will be provided help like seeds, soil testing, technical support and knowhow. Saplings will be continuously provided under various government schemes and the villagers will be assisted in delivering their products to buyers at a good selling price. The villagers were also briefed about the benefits of honey bee farming and its commercial benefits and were asked to adopt it.
BSF’s latest initiative borrows from the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ of the government being undertaken in villages bordering China. VVP is aimed at all-round development and connectivity of villages bordering China, so that residents feel a sense of “belonging” to India and help strengthen the intelligence network on the ground. “BSF is working towards making the border fencing more effective by completely securing it along the India-Bangladesh border from Bangladeshi infiltrators and smugglers, and ensuring overall development of the people of the border villages by creating new employment opportunities for them,” the officer said.
BSF officials said the dense forests on both sides of the border and intensive farming will continue to provide adequate food to the bees. The cultivation of mustard and flowering plants will also provide adequate food to the bees.
Under this scheme, bee boxes will be installed along with fencing, keeping them slightly above the ground.Some flowering plants will be planted around the boxes and a natural habitat created by arranging shade over the boxes. “It is expected that these bees will act as ‘bee warriors‘ to prevent intruders and smugglers from cutting the fence. By attacking them, they will play an important role in preventing the fence from being cut,” a senior BSF officer said.
The scheme will benefit residents of border villages by creating new employment opportunities like beekeeping and cultivation of various types of medicinal plants like black tulsi, ekangi, satmuli, ashwagandha, aloe vera etc.
The commercial selling price of these plants is higher than normally cultivated products. They will be provided help like seeds, soil testing, technical support and knowhow. Saplings will be continuously provided under various government schemes and the villagers will be assisted in delivering their products to buyers at a good selling price. The villagers were also briefed about the benefits of honey bee farming and its commercial benefits and were asked to adopt it.
BSF’s latest initiative borrows from the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ of the government being undertaken in villages bordering China. VVP is aimed at all-round development and connectivity of villages bordering China, so that residents feel a sense of “belonging” to India and help strengthen the intelligence network on the ground. “BSF is working towards making the border fencing more effective by completely securing it along the India-Bangladesh border from Bangladeshi infiltrators and smugglers, and ensuring overall development of the people of the border villages by creating new employment opportunities for them,” the officer said.
BSF officials said the dense forests on both sides of the border and intensive farming will continue to provide adequate food to the bees. The cultivation of mustard and flowering plants will also provide adequate food to the bees.
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