Yucatan legislators approved in plenary session the modifications to the Beekeeping Protection and Promotion Law regarding the promotion of Beekeeping Activity and Protection of Bees and their Environment, which has as its main purpose to protect these species and their environment, which would benefit more than 12 thousand producers across the state.
With the totality of votes in Congress, the approval of amendments to the laws that were created in 2004, but which throughout this time have only undergone three modifications in terms of form.
Regarding its approval, the deputy promoting the initiative, Janice Escobedo Salazar, indicated that it was time to adapt the laws to the current reality of the beekeeping sector in the region.
The local representative specified that with these modifications the structure of the Apicultural Product System Committee of the State of Yucatan is strengthened, a specialized body that is responsible for studying the state’s beekeeping situation.
In addition, the State Program for the Protection of Bees and the Promotion of Beekeeping of the State of Yucatán will be launched, which establishes the objectives, strategies, and guidelines of action to be implemented by the Secretariat of Rural Development.
The modifications also imply the promotion and development of good livestock practices through the training and accompaniment of beekeepers in the honey production processes, as well as the certification of the staff of municipalities, associations, and beekeepers for the removal of swarms, prioritizing the conservation of them.
Also, according to the budget available in the state, it will be sought that there are incentives to encourage entrepreneurial projects that generate jobs and investment for the development of beekeeping.
The reform also contemplates the promotion of the use of pesticides that do not produce harmful effects on ecosystems, as well as human and animal health; seeking to halt the alarming decline in the bee population in Yucatan, but without invading federal powers.
Janice Escobedo explained that Mexico is in the first places in the world in terms of honey production and according to data from the Federal Government, in 2018 there was a national production of more than 64 thousand tons of honey, of which Yucatan contributed 18 percent of the total.