Project partners
Introduction of Iran's National Bee keepers Union
Iran National Union of Beekeepers, as the only official beekeeping organization of the country, which was established since 2005, with its sub-set of provincial unions and 256 cooperative companies in the cities, interacts with 100,000 Iranian beekeepers and is responsible for the coordination of beekeepers managing 10,600,000 honey bee colonies. In the meantime, according to the latest census of the Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture, Iranian beekeepers produce 112,500 tons of honey, 3,800 grams of royal jelly, 285 tons of pollen, 124 tons of beeswax, and 2,220 tons of wax in the country. According to FAO statistics, Iran’s honey production ranks fourth in the world. According to the rich & valuable medicinal plants in Iran’s different climates it leads to the production of special, single-flower or medicinal honeys, which is one of the valuable Advantages of modern beekeeping knowledge.
Capabilities
- Having a specialized laboratory for honey and other bee products with advanced technology
- Has the possibility of distributing the inputs needed by the country’s beekeeping industry
- Active and effective member of the International Association of Beekeepers of the World (Apimondia)
- Active organizer of congresses, festivals, and training classes.
- Issuance of beekeeping licenses by the union to manage beekeeping business
Introducing the Research Institute of Medicinal Plants and Raw Materials of Shahid Beheshti University
Shahid Beheshti University’s Research Institute of Medicinal Plants and Raw Materials, with its related departments, has a very good monitoring of the country’s medicinal plants and has the best and most specialized herbarium of medicinal plants in the country. On the other hand, it is possible to carry out different types of chemical analysis experiments and to investigate the biological activity of various substances in the research institute, and in the production of natural compounds (from plants), there is technical knowledge and good facilities at the laboratory and semi-industrial level (pilot). The possibility of purification in different scales (laboratory to industrial) of various substances from plants, along with the identification of pure substances or those of plant origin with the help of highly advanced devices, has caused the research institute to be known as the scientific pole of this matter in the country and as a prominent department in the world. Many international references should be made for joint cooperation with the research institute.
The idea of establishing a Research Institute of Plants and Medicinal Raw Materials in Shahid Beheshti University was proposed in 1372. At the same time, UNIDO in 1376 was deciding to choose a land with natural resources and high biodiversity in the Middle East region, and Iran and then Shahid Beheshti University were chosen for this purpose, and permission was issued for the university to cooperate with this organization, and the Research Institute of Plants and Materials The first pharmaceutical company started working in Shahid Beheshti University in 2008.
The presence of master’s degree students, PhD students in the fields of phytochemistry, medicinal and agricultural chemistry, and postdoctoral members of various fields in the research institute has made education as well as research. The Research Institute of Plants and Medicinal Raw Materials declares its readiness for any cooperation in academic, research and industrial frameworks with different departments inside and outside the country.