Meliponiculture for Pollination Support, Yield Enhancement and Poverty Eradication

Abstract

Trigona (Tetragonula) iridipennis Smith is the common stingless bee found in South India. They are domesticated in mud pots, bamboo bits, wooden boxes or coconut shells. Meliponiculture is being popularized in the rural homesteads for poverty alleviation and additional income generation. The chapter discusses the studies conducted as part of All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Honey Bees and Pollinators at Vellayani Centre of Kerala Agricultural University. Among the various types of hives with different volumes, bamboo bits with 1500 cc showed better brood development and storage of honey. Due to scarcity of bamboo nodes, a wooden box with 1960 cc volume with two equal halves was designed which helped for easy division and mass multiplication of colonies. The technologies were disseminated to the public by imparting trainers’ training in different districts of Kerala in which 174 women and 322 men were trained. Augmentation, conservation and management of T. iridipennis should be intensified for ensuring sustainable agriculture and the conservation of biological diversity resulting in food security for poverty eradication.