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HomePosts Tagged "National Bee Board"
AgroPolicy, Agrotech, Bee keeping, R&D

GI Tag will boost rural sector by increasing revenue of the producers and employment in the region

Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare, chairs a meeting on application and use of Geographical Indication (GI) of Honey at Krishi Bhawan. Dr Likhi said, National Bee Board (NBB) will support stakeholders to get GI Tag for different types of honey with support from State Governments and other stakeholders

Dr. Likhi mentioned that NBB will support stakeholders to get GI Tag for different types of honey with support from State Governments and other stakeholders. He said, GI Tagging will immensely help in uplifting the beekeeping community as after the Tag, beekeepers can further proceed for value addition in honey & other beehive products.

A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and ensures good qualities or a reputation in the region. GI is important to proliferate the beekeeping at national and international level.

Dr. Sudhanshu, Secretary, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) briefed about the GI tagging of agricultural commodities and mentioned that GI Tagging in is based on area and species specific and it must be adopted with the prospective of export.

Dr. Prabhat Kumar, Horticulture Commissioner, Govt. of India mentioned that for holistic development of beekeeping, thrust is also needed to boost honey marketing at national as well as at international level. GI Tag will boost rural sector by increasing revenue of the producers and employment in the region. It mentioned special quality/ characteristic unique to the geographical indications. It prevents duplication of the tagged products so in another way it provides legal protection to Geographical Indications in India. This Tag is given to good quality products so it increases customer satisfaction. The good quality of the products opens the international door for the producers. With changing marketing dynamics, it is becoming necessary for all industries today to make the best use of the geo tagging service.

100 Honey FPOs/ Clusters have been identified under NBHM to promote and support the honey sector in a holistic way in the country. “Madhukranti portal” is another initiative under NBHM which is launched for online registration and developing Blockchain system for traceability of source of honey and other bee products. At present, over 20 lakh honeybee colonies have registered with NBB on Madhukranti portal. NBHM is being effectively monitoring the beekeeping activities in India.

He informed that India is currently producing about 1,33,000 Metric Tonnes (MTs) of Honey (2021-22) and India has also become one of the main honeys exporting country. The country has exported 74,413.05 MT of Honey world-wide during 2021-22.

GI Tag will boost rural sector by

Acts & Schemes – Centre, AgroPolicy, India, Trade

The National Bee Board (NBB) organised a workshop on ‘Strengthening of Export Potential of Honey’ at Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management (VAMNICOM), Pune, Maharashtra. Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, additional secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, chaired the workshop. Dr Likhi launched bee wax products manufactured by FPOs during the workshop wherein it was also decided to establish a cooperative honey project at VAMNICOM.  The workshop also gave a platform for honey processors, exporters, FPOs and agri start ups to share their experiences about the future strategies for export promotion of honey.

India is one of the major honey exporting countries in the world and has exported 74,413 MT of honey worth Rs. 1221.17 crore during 2021-22. More than 50 per cent of the honey production in India is being exported to about 83 countries including major markets like USA, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and Canada.  Some of the major varieties of honey exported are mustard honey, eucalyptus honey, lychee honey, sunflower honey, pongamia honey, multi-flora Himalayan honey, acacia honey and wild flora honey. 

India has around 12,699 beekeepers and 19.34 lakh honey bee colonies registered with the National Bee Board at present and produces about 1,33,200 metric tonne of honey, as per the 2021-22 second advance estimate. A total 102 projects worth Rs. 133.31 crore have been sanctioned under the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) till date. Under the scheme of ‘Formation of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations’, 100 FPOs of beekeepers/ honey producers have been allotted to TRIFED (14), NAFED (60) and NDDB (26) for the implementation of activities under NBHM. The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has also developed an online portal, Madhukranti, to maintain traceability records of honey and other beehive products.

The National Bee Board (NBB) organised a

Bee keeping

The event emphasised on the need to take strong measures to increase the export and production of honey and generating employment for the beekeepers

In a bid to highlight the importance of beekeeping as part of the Integrated Farming System in the country, India Honey Alliance (IHA) in collaboration with the National Bee Board, hosted a webinar – ‘Hive to Home 4.0 – The Busy Bee’. It witnessed participation of experts from across the honey value chain and emphasised on the holistic development of the beekeeping sector and creating a more enabling environment for the bees and beekeepers. 

The session was moderated by Somit Mukherjee, Senior VP, Supply Chain-Dabur and the opening remarks were given by Namrata Khanna, Director, India Honey Alliance.

In his keynote address, Dr Naveen Patle, ED-National Bee Board (NBB) said that the country has achieved 21 per cent growth in export this year as compared to last year. He also stressed on the fact that while the country has more than 48 lakhs bee colonies, only 19 lakhs colonies are registered in the Madhu Kranti Portal. He urged that beekeepers should register themselves for better traceability and holistic growth of the beekeeping ecosystem. Dr Patle informed that the NBB has recently set up 8 mini labs in Gujarat and the organisation is in the process of creating many more such regional testing labs and mini-testing labs across the country.

The other experts pointed out that it is a very fragmented and unorganised sector and that the government along with the entire honey ecosystem should collaborate to take strong measures in increasing the export and production of honey, creating sustainable income and employment for the beekeepers. 

The event emphasised on the need to

AgroPolicy, Bee keeping

More than 600 participants from various divisions participated in the conference

National Bee Board (NBB) recently organised a national conference on bee keeping sector in collaboration with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) & National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). More than 600 participants from government as well as the private sector, State Agricultural Universities (SAUs)/ Central Agricultural Universities (CAUs), Beekeepers and other stakeholders involved in beekeeping occupation, etc. attended the conference.

During the conference, Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India spoke on National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM), a central sector scheme launched by the Government of India for the overall promotion and development of scientific beekeeping in the country. The implementation of NBHM will be proven a huge step in achieving the ‘Sweet Revolution’ in the country.

Likhi expressed that NBHM will help in filling gaps in infrastructural facilities for honey and linking marginal beekeepers in an organised way for dealing with adulteration in honey. NBB has launched Madhukranti Portal for traceability of honey and& other beehive products viz.; bee pollen, bee wax, bee venom, propolis, etc. NBHM has the aim to create a network of honey testing labs covering all parts of the country and for this 100 FPOs of beekeepers will be proved as the centre.

Dr NK Patle, Additional Commissioner (Horti.) and Executive Director (NBB) emphasized on implementation of the NBHM scheme effectively all over the country and to provide factual benefits to beekeepers and other stakeholders associated with beekeeping occupation.

Dr Balraj Singh, Coordinator, AICRP on Honey Bee & Pollinator, ICAR, New Delhi, mentioned that currently there are 25 AICRP centres in the country, which are actively involved in research in beekeeping/ pollination. ICAR is on the way to creating Pollinator Gardens under AICRP centres across India. The first such type of Pollinator Garden has been established at Govind Bhallabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand.

Dr Arjun Singh Saini, Director General (Horticulture) spoke on the status and strategy for implementation of the Madhukranti Portal in Haryana. He informed that about 816 beekeepers with 1,29,652 honeybee colonies are registered on Madhukranti Portal from Haryana State.

Pankaj Prasad, Additional Managing Director and Unnikrishnan, General Manager from NAFED informed that NAFED is creating 65 clusters/ Farmers Producers Organisations (FPOs) of beekeepers/ Honey Processors. These 65 FPOs will be part of the honey corridor linking northwest to north-eastern regions.

Abhijit Bhattacharya, NDDB stated that NDDB has an approach of creating Honey FPOs in the line of Dairy Cooperatives for getting the benefit of infrastructural facilities available with Dairy Cooperatives/ Milk Unions.
Seema Bhatnagar, General Manager, TRIFED informed that TRIFED is already involved in promoting beekeeping in tribal parts of the country and procuring wild honey and has also exported to various countries honey worth Rs 115 lakhs during 2020-21.

A brief process of registration on the Madhukranti Portal was also demonstrated to participants/ beekeepers of this conference by Jai Prakash, Senior Manager, Indian Bank. Registration with Madhukranti Portal will help the beekeepers during the migration of bee colonies and also get insurance.

More than 600 participants from various divisions