Pakistani Beekeepers Were Trained in Ordu

With the cooperation of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and Republic of Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Directorate of Apiculture Research Institute, an experience sharing program was organized for the specialists of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Food Security and Research Institute (Honeybee Research Institute).

The delegation, which came to Ordu within the scope of the project prepared with the cooperation of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Directorate of Ordu Apiculture Research Institute, was trained for 5 days.

Within the scope of the program, which was carried out by the technical personnel in the institute building, the Pakistani delegation was given theoretical and applied training in beekeeping activities, nectary and pollen plants, colony management, queen breeding, royal jelly production, quality of queens, beekeeping equipment, workshop applications, honeybee diseases and pests, laboratory applications, and apitherapy.  The delegation was taken on a tour in the “Bee Products R&D Centre”, which includes Honey Packing and Accreditation Laboratories and was built within the scope of “My Bee, My Honey, My Honeycomb” (Arım Balım Peteğim) Project, and informed on the activities of this center.

After the training program, certificates were presented to Pakistani beekeepers by Feyzullah Konak, Manager of Ordu Apiculture Research Institute.  Manager of Pakistan Honeybee Research Institute Rashid Mahmood, who attended the training session, spoke to reporters and said that the Directorate of Ordu Apiculture Research Institute has a very good infrastructure and that the training given by specialists will contribute to Pakistani beekeepers greatly.  Stating that he was grateful to everyone who contributed to the project and this cooperation, Mahmood thanked TİKA specialists and the administrative and technical staff of the Directorate of Apiculture Research Institute.

Muhammad Khalid Rafique and Ammara Blouch, specialists of the Pakistani Honeybee Research Institute, remarked that the training was planned very well and that they had not previously witnessed works such as artificial insemination, genetic diversity determination by morphological methods, and diagnosis of diseases and pests. Stating that they need to strengthen the relations between two countries more, Rafique said that they need the support of TİKA and the Directorate of Apiculture Research Institute in the development of modern beekeeping techniques and high-quality queen breeding in Pakistan.

TİKA representative İbrahim Aybek, who spoke in the ceremony, stated that they believe the experience sharing program will make a great contribution to beekeeping in Pakistan and thanked the Apiculture Research Institute, which hosted both Pakistani specialists and the program.

On the last day of the program, Pakistani delegation visited Seddar Yavuz, Governor of Ordu, in his office. Yavuz emphasized that Pakistan was very special for Turkey and said that he was happy that the affection between countries became concrete with such good projects.