Syllabus: GS3/Economy
In News
- India’s honey sector is undergoing a structured transformation as the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) continues to scale scientific beekeeping across the country.
National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM)
- It is a Central Sector Scheme launched by the Government of India for the overall promotion and development of scientific beekeeping and the production of quality honey and other beehive products.
- It is implemented through the National Bee Board (NBB) and was announced under the banner of Atmanirbhar Bharat with a total budget outlay of ₹500 crore for three years (FY 2020–21 to 2022–23).
- It has since been extended for another three years (FY 2023–24 to 2025–26) with a remaining budget of ₹370 crore from the original allocation.
- It was launched as a part of the “Sweet Revolution”, an ambitious initiative aimed at promoting apiculture to accelerate the production of quality honey and boost farmers’ income through scientific and organized beekeeping.
Importance of Beekeeping
- Beekeeping, an agro-based activity undertaken by farmers and landless labourers in rural areas, forms an integral part of the Integrated Farming System.
- It plays a crucial role in pollination, thereby enhancing crop yields and farmers’ income while providing honey and other high-value beehive products such as beeswax, bee pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, etc., all of which serve as important sources of livelihood for rural communities.
- India exports a variety of natural honey like Rapeseed/Mustard Honey, Eucalyptus Honey, Lychee Honey, Sunflower Honey, etc.
- Major Indian states producing honey are: Uttar Pradesh (17%), West Bengal (16%), Punjab (14%), Bihar (12%) and Rajasthan (9%).
- Major export destinations included the U.S.A, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Libya.
| Integrated farming (or integrated agriculture) – It is a commonly and broadly used word to explain a more integrated approach to farming as compared to existing monoculture approaches. – It refers to agricultural systems that integrate livestock, fisheries, crop production, horticulture, etc. |
Objectives of NBHM
- Promoting holistic growth of beekeeping industry for income & employment generation, providing livelihood support to farm and non-farm households and to enhance agriculture/ horticulture production;
- Developing additional infrastructural facilities for developing quality nucleus stock of honeybees, multiplication of stock by bee breeders and post-harvest and marketing infrastructures, including honey processing plants, storages/cold storages, collection, branding, marketing centre, etc.;
- Setting up of state-of-the-art Quality Control Labs for testing of honey & other beehive products at regional levels and Mini/Satellite Labs at district levels in main honey producing districts/states;
- To develop blockchain/ traceability system for traceability of source of honey & other beehive products and using IT tools in beekeeping, including online registration, etc.
Source :PIB
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