Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs of Beekeeping
The Central government of India has recently approved a new central sector scheme National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) to advance scientific beekeeping. The Mission aims to ameliorate the quality of honey as well as other beehive products to stimulate the growth of the industry.
Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman Manoj Kumar stated the industry has raised crop productivity by 30 percent that which, consecutively increased the farmers’ income.
“Beekeeping is the medium of sweet revolution, paves the way to earn more income by joining this work”, said Kumar while addressing the Khadi Honey Mission dialogue program in Haryana’s Kaithal.
National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) has three mini-missions, the first objective is to create great thrust to the production of various crops through pollination aided by the adoption of scientific beekeeping, the second objective is on post-harvest management of beehive products, and the third object is, Mini Mission III concentrates on research and technology generation for different regions and agro-climate conditions.
Under NBHM of the Ministry of Agriculture, Khadi and Village Industries Commission KVIC has distributed 1.75 lakh bee boxes and provided training to 17,500 beneficiaries across the country, as per the MSME Ministry’s official statement.
In the fiscal year 2021-22, India exported a great deal of 74,413 metric tonnes (MT) of honey worth Rs 1, 22.17 crore, mainly to the US, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bangladesh, and Qatar.
KVIC launched the Honey Mission Programme under the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during 2017-18 with the intent to promote beekeeping activities and elevate employment opportunities in economically backward and remote areas.
Beekeeping is an agro-based activity that is being practiced as integrated farming by farmers/landless laborers in rural areas. It supplements income and generates wide employment opportunities in rural areas as well as improves the nutritional intake of rural populations.
Due to the diversity in flora and fauna in Indian land, India has an immersive potential to facilitate Beekeeping and thereby steps into advancing the development of the industry. Bees play a vital role in creating environmental stability through means of sustaining plants’ biodiversity. It is one of the important flagship programs of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
Beekeeping has been considered an activity for promoting the cross-pollination of Horticulture crops under the National Horticulture Mission since 2005, which later merged with the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).
Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, State Khadi Board, and State Departments of Horticulture/Agriculture executed beekeeping schemes.
Honeybees offer services to society through ensured pollination in cross-pollinated crops and also provide a platform to deliver quality honey and a variety of beehive products.
