RONO HILLS, 25 Aug: A high-level delegation of senior officers from the Directorate of Agriculture, led by Director (Marketing) Nokliam Sumnyan,visited Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) here on Tuesday and assessed the advanced honey testing facilities established within RGU's agricultural sciences department.
The delegation also included progressive honeybee farmers and Mission Director of the Arunachal Pradesh Bee and Honey Mission (ABHM), TD Neckom.
The strategic institutional visit aligned with the state government's newly initiated 'Catch Them Young 2.0' programme, announced during the 2026-2027 state budget.
The initiative focuses on generating sustainable self-employment opportunities for educated, unemployed youths within the state's expanding apiculture (beekeeping) sector.
During the visit, the delegation held extensive discussions with the dean and faculty members of RGU's agricultural sciences department. The dean explained the department's current honey testing capabilities, which are funded through a project of the National Bee and Honey Mission (NBHM). This project is being executed via the North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR), an autonomous society under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The comprehensive NBHM-funded project framework includes four core pillars: honey testing centre, honey processing unit, nucleus centre and beekeeping training programme.
While the honey testing centre is fully operational, the remaining three units are scheduled for implementation across the next two phases of the project timeline.
During the inspection of the honey testing unit, the faculty members shared established honey testing protocols with the visiting officials and showcased other food processing technologies available at the university.
Later, the Agriculture Directorate team and RGU faculty members convened a joint high-level meeting with the RGU vice-chancellor and the registrar,during which they briefed the RGU authorities on the recent state Cabinet approval of the landmark Arunachal Pradesh Apiculture & Honey Policy (AAHP), with the Agriculture Department as the nodal agency for its statewide implementation.
The meeting also touched upon the strategic scope of sea buckthorn cultivation, another vital mission under the Agriculture Department requiring RGU's technological inputs and institutional development support.
During the meeting, the visiting delegation and RGU authorities recognised that major initiatives such as hands-on apiculture support, mass capacity building, development of zonal nucleus centres, and grooming specialised 'Bee Villages' demand a well-coordinated, joint effort between the state government and the university.
To formalise this synergy, the RGU VC recommended entering into a comprehensive memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enable sharing of cutting-edge technology, exchanging field expertise, opening institutional testing and processing facilities, and conducting joint training operations for the farming community.
The visiting team assured the RGU authorities of immediate necessary administrative actions to secure state government approval for the proposed MoU, an official release from the Krishi Bhavan said.
