Policy Support for the Healthy Development of the Beekeeping Industry, Ministry of Agriculture Issues Opinions
In order to further transform the development mode of China's beekeeping industry, focus on strengthening the industrial function of bee pollination, consolidate the foundation for industrial development, ensure the quality and safety of bee products, and promote the healthy development of China's beekeeping industry, not long ago, the Ministry of Agriculture issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Promotion of Bee Pollination Technology to Promote the Sustainable and Healthy Development of the Beekeeping Industry".
The "Opinions" hold that the beekeeping industry is an important part of modern agriculture, an indispensable link in maintaining ecological balance, and an undertaking that benefits the country and the people. Developing the beekeeping industry is not only an important means of promoting increased crop yields and an effective way to increase farmers' incomes, but also an important safeguard for meeting the needs of the bee product market and an important measure for maintaining ecological balance.
The "Opinions" propose to adhere to developing beekeeping production and advancing crop pollination simultaneously, and to accelerate the promotion of the bee pollination industry; to be market-oriented, strengthen support, and focus on improving the internal and external environment for the development of the beekeeping industry; to transform the production mode of the beekeeping industry, vigorously promote the standardization, large-scale operation, high quality and industrialization of the beekeeping industry, steadily improve the quality and safety level of bee products, actively promote increased agricultural efficiency and farmers' incomes, and strive to achieve the sustainable and healthy development of the beekeeping industry.
The "Opinions" put forward development goals for the beekeeping industry: by 2015, the number of bee colonies nationwide will reach 10 million, and the output of bee products will reach 500,000 tons; supporting technologies for increasing crop yields through bee pollination will be popularized, a number of specialized pollination bee farms will be formed, and the industrialization of bee pollination will be initially realized; significant progress will be made in transforming the production mode, and the proportion of bees raised by large-scale bee farms (households) and professional cooperative organizations will increase from the current 40% to 70%, the level of production facilityization and the quality and safety of bee products will be greatly improved, industrialization will accelerate, and the capacity for sustainable development of the beekeeping industry will be further enhanced.
The "Opinions" require strengthening scientific research on bee pollination, and supporting research on pollination bee feeding and management technology, bee species breeding, pest and disease control, pollination equipment and other aspects; vigorously promoting and popularizing technology for increasing crop yields through bee pollination, selecting crop varieties with obvious effects of bee pollination in increasing yield and improving quality, such as rapeseed, cotton, apples, sunflowers, strawberries, watermelons, citrus and jujubes, and promoting bee pollination technology; accelerating the popularization of green plant protection technology, formulating and implementing regulations on pesticide use during crop flowering periods, and minimizing the occurrence of pesticide poisoning of bees; and increasing publicity for bee pollination technology. The "Opinions" also put forward requirements for optimizing the regional layout of the beekeeping industry, improving the bee breeding system for improved varieties, transforming the beekeeping production mode, doing a good job in bee disease prevention and control, and building a quality testing and standards system.
In order to further promote bee pollination technology and improve crop yield and quality, the Ministry of Agriculture also issued the "Technical Regulations for Bee Pollination (Trial)", which stipulate the operational procedures and management requirements for the preparation of pollination bee colonies, pollination technology for field crops, and pollination technology for facility crops.