Name :Ram Jethabhai Mulubhai
Age :35 years old
Location :Veraval, GirSomnath, Gujarat
Business :Artist, CoconutFarmer & Honey BeeCultivator
Ram Jethabhai Mulubhai has made some bolddecisions in his life. On completion of 12th standard, heenrolled himself in a 5-year Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree,and decided to become an artist! Pretty bold for a humblefarmer’s son!
So when his father’s health ailed and he was forced to takeover the family farm, it was not surprising that he decided topursue something very different – like rearing honey bees– to make the farm viable. With 15 bigha of land, the familyrelied upon a 20-year-old coconut plantation, planted by hisfather. But issues with pollination meant the trees hardly borefruit – bringing in just Rs. 45,000 at harvest – and that too,only once every 2 years!
Jethabhai sought advice from Ambuja Foundation’s Krishi Vigyan Kendra(KVK) – how could he optimise the land and plantation butmake it a financially viable business?
It seemed that he too was being impacted by the worldwideshortage of bees – a lack of bees in the area was affecting histree pollination, and the fruiting rate of his trees was taking ahit as a result. But he wasn’t alone. In an effort to tackle thisnationwide issue, the Government of India had launched aninitiative to train local farmers on honey bee cultivation, andJethabhai was quick to sign up for the course.
In 2021, he became an official Honey Bee Cultivator, certifiedby the Government of India, and he invested in 40 boxes ofbees to kickstart the business, with 50% subsidised by theGovernment.It was certainly no easy task, and the first time he opened theboxes to check the bees, he got stung from head to toe! Hepromptly called KVK and told them bee rearing was not forhim after all! The Ambuja Foundation team told him to be patient and offeredto train him more on how to handle the bees gently.
And of course, the gamble paid off! Today he harvests 600 kgof honey from 70 boxes of bees. That’s 21 lakh bees doingsome hard work! He packages the honey and sells it in thelocal market – hauling in Rs. 3.6 lakh as a result. But hisincome doesn’t end there.He rents out bee boxes to farmers to help them pollinatetheir crops, earning Rs. 1 lakh in the process, and as awoodworker, he builds honey boxes (resplendent withdecorative wooden carvings) and sells them to other farmers,totalling Rs. 2 lakh per year. Oh, and he has seen a 20%increase in produce from his coconut farm also!
What about his artwork? Being less labour intensive thanother forms of farming, he continues to work as an artisan inhis spare time, earning Rs. 1 lakh annually from his intricatepaintings, carved woodwork, and other showpieces.
“The honey bees have become my family! Even when theyare stinging me, my income is doubling – so I really don’tmind!” he laughs.
Impacts
- 600 kgs honey
- 21 lakhs bees
- Rs. 6.6 lakh additional income
