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Beekeeping presents a lucrative business opportunity for small and marginal farmers, enabling them to participate in the green business revolution driven by consumer demand for eco-friendly products. This practice involves the cultivation of honeybees, benefiting humans and contributing to national development (Ononye and Akunne, 2015). Beyond producing honey and other byproducts, bees play a crucial role in sustaining and improving crop production through pollination services. In our country, approximately sixteen lakh people are directly or indirectly involved in beekeeping and related activities. India has a rich history of honey and beekeeping, with honey being the first sweet food tasted by our ancestors in rock shelters and forests . Beekeeping has evolved into a diverse industry, with honey and bee products being utilized in pharmaceuticals, beeswax industries, bee venom extraction, royal jelly production, bee nurseries, bee equipment, and hive manufacturing, among others.
Profitability in beekeeping is particularly high in areas with abundant floral pasturage. Recent statistics reveal that approximately 50 million hectares of land are dedicated to cultivating oilseeds, pulses, orchards, and other crops that benefit from bee pollination. Moreover, there is an additional 60 million hectares of forest area with the potential for beekeeping. This extensive agricultural and forested landscape underscores the significant role that beekeeping can play in supporting sustainable agriculture and fostering economic growth.
India holds the potential to maintain approximately 120 million bee colonies, offering self-employment opportunities for over 6 million rural and tribal families (Abrol and Shankar, 2015). These bee colonies have the capacity to yield over 1.2 million tons of honey and around 15,000 tons of beeswax. Implementation of advanced methods for the organized collection of forest honey and beeswax could result in an additional production of at least 120,000 tons of honey and 10,000 tons of beeswax.
Key honey-producing states, including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, contribute significantly to this production. The Government of India has sanctioned a new Central Sector Scheme called the "National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM)" for a two-year period. This initiative aims to promote and develop scientific beekeeping on a mission-oriented basis, striving for a "Sweet Revolution" in the country. Emphasizing capacity building, training, with a specific focus on women, input support for promotion and production, establishment of Integrated Beekeeping Development Centres (IBDCs), infrastructural development, digitization/online registration, processing, value addition, and market support, the NBHM is poised to drive comprehensive growth in the sector.
About 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh, the Department of Horticulture and Food Processing is overseeing beekeeping initiatives to promote it as a viable business for the state's farmers. Training centers, including those in Allahabad, Saharanpur, Basti, and Moradabad, as well as sub-centers in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Agra, Bareilly, Varanasi, Sultanpur, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Faizabad, Kanpur Nagar, and Azamgarh, are actively supporting the development of beekeeping skills in the region.
While a small portion of honey is consumed for personal use in the domestic market, the majority is utilized by the pharmaceutical and confectionary industries. The growing health consciousness and changing lifestyles are leading to an increased consumption of honey as a health food, suggesting a potential rise in domestic demand. According to the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, India exported 51,547.31 MT of Natural Honey, valued at Rs. 653.58 crore/101.32 USD million, during the 2017-18 fiscal year. The primary export destinations during that period were the USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Canada, and Qatar.
The proposed Meet/Conference will provide an opportunity for the State to showcase its potential and opportunities to explore new frontiers of technology intervention, governance and management interventions, entrepreneurship development related, emerging market linkage opportunities and enhancing the net income of those directly related to beekeeping in the State.
The one day programme will bring a large number of national stakeholders from the industry, institutions, Government and the development sectors to showcase the programs and schemes, products, technologies and services; and deliberate upon the issues and opportunities and the way forward. CARD envisions to provide exposure to the producers, facilitate meet with potential buyers and success models and sensitizing them with policies, schemes, technologies and markets. Rewarding evolution will be evident when farmers themselves become role models for fellow farmers.
Interested people can write a mail to nodalofficer.card@gmail.com
or
register at
| BENEFICIARY NAME | Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development |
|---|---|
| BENEFICIARY A/C NO | 50200028473500 |
| BENEFICIARY BANK | HDFC BANK |
| BENEFICIARY BRANCH | KAILASH BUILDING, KG MARG, NEW DELHI-110001 |
| ACCOUNTS STATUS | CURRENT ACCOUNT |
| IFSC Code | HDFC0000003 |
| MICR Code | 110240001 |