The Nationwide Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) has accepted the registration of around 10,000 beekeepers to provide hive-to-tongue traceability of honey and its products. This undertaking was mentioned in the nationwide webinar on “Prospects and Issues of Beekeeping in India.” It was organized recently by Kodagu-based School of Forestry.
BNS Murthy, Horticulture Commissioner, Division of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare stated that honey collected from the registered beekeepers will likely be placed into the foremost home and export markets in the coming days. The standard honey can give good returns to the farmers.
According to him, people looking for high quality honey, especially during these pandemic times, will be assured of getting such honey with the hive-to-tongue traceability project.
Murthy informed that the NBHM envisions Rs. 500 crore from the fiscal 2020-21 to the fiscal 2022-23 for beekeeping event in the nation. For this, Rs. 150 crore are already sanctioned. The vision is to develop six chief regional labs via NBHM and each lab will receive Rs. 15 crore as funds.
FPOs for honey
Murthy said that 100 FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations) are being created for the beekeeping sector alone. These FPOs may get a grant of around Rs. 16 lakhs from the Authorities. The FPOs dedicated to honey sector will work on by-products of beekeeping, plus bee venom and beeswax. The last two have great potential, but have not been tapped to their fullest potential.
To put it in one word, beekeepers will cash for their honey and different by-products.
This move has come at the right time because, recently, top honey brands were under the scanner, as their honey had failed the purity test. This not only increased the risk of their brands getting a bad reputation, but also made people go sceptical about honey.
However, this hive-to-tongue traceability project will help consumers get the best and real honey and, at the same time, allow beekeepers get the deserved value of their honey and by-products.
