Sweet revolution in NE

The rising popularity of natural honey produced in India in the global market is good news for beekeepers in the northeast region. The region with abundant floral resources is naturally an ideal geographic area for the promotion of apiculture with an assured market. India exported about 60,000 MT of natural honey worth Rs 713 crore in 2020-21 with the United States, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bangladesh and Qatar being the major export destinations. The country's honey production increased from 94,500 MT in 2016-17 to 1,25,000 MT in 2020-21 which also indicates the rising domestic demand. The rising popularity of honey as a healthy alternative to the artificial sweetener that people use to replace sugar is one of the major drivers in both domestic as well as global markets. According to the Beekeeping Development Committee (BDC) of the National Bee Board, based on the estimate that India accounts for seven per cent of world flora the country has the potential to have about 200 million bee colonies but currently has around 3.4 million bee colonies, which speaks volume about opportunities in apiculture. If the potential is fully harnessed it can generate employment for 21.5 million people against about 4 to 5 lakh people currently engaged in beekeeping. The country's per capita yearly consumption of honey is about 50 grams against the global consumption level of about 250 grams and the rising popularity of honey on the food table is expected to push the demand in the domestic market too. A BDC report states that in terms of production, 200 million bee colonies can produce over 10 million tonnes of honey and about 15,000 tonnes of beeswax. Besides, an organized collection of forest honey and beeswax using improved methods can result in additional production of at least 120,000 tonnes of honey and 10,000 tonnes of beeswax, it adds. Apart from adding to household income, beekeeping brings additional benefits to farmers as bees help increase the productivity of crops like mustards, orchards, legumes, vegetables, orchids through pollination. The BDC, while considering this role of honeybees decided to treat beekeeping/honeybees as an input in agriculture to boost agricultural production through pollination enhancement in the crop. Boost in honey production in the country can be attributed to the implementation of the "National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM)" by the Central Government with an initial budget allocation of Rs 300 crore for two years 2018-19 and 2019-20 for overall promotion and development scientific beekeeping in the mission mode to achieve "Sweet Revolution." The positive results prompted the government to allocate an additional amount of Rs 500 crore for another three years till 2022-23 under the Atmanirbhar Bharat. The main outcomes/ targets proposed to be achieved under the Scheme by end of 2023-24 include production of 1.82 lakh MT honey, increasing the number of bee colonies to 45 lakh, boosting export to 90,000 MT and generation of 5 lakh employment. While the targets are far less than the potential the success of the government-supported missions will go a long way in sending across the message about the huge potential available for farmers and entrepreneurs in taking up beekeeping as viable and rewarding income and employment generating activities. States in the northeast region are far behind the top honey-producing states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Bihar in availing the benefits under the NBHM. Against 126 entities of individual beekeepers with 4,236 bee colonies registered in Assam under the National Bee Board till December 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak, Uttar Pradesh had 2,699 registered entities with 3.99 lakh bee colonies, Punjab had 1,156 registered entities with 2.05 lakh bee colonies. Arunachal Pradesh had 63 registered entities with 6,300 bee colonies while Nagaland with 232 registered entities with 4,265 bee colonies tell the real picture of the region romanticizing availability of its natural resources include a wide diversity of flora and fauna but always falling short of expectation when it comes to availing government-funded benefits to turn the opportunities into success stories. The region also boasts of traditional knowledge in apiculture among various ethnic communities. Traditional knowledge of domesticating stingless bees, known as meliponiculture of Dima Hasao Hill district in Assam can provide sustainable livelihood as honey produced can fetch up to Rs 4,000 a kilogram because of its medicinal value in traditional medicine. States in the region have to build awareness among beekeepers about the incentives available under the NBHM as well as about the growing domestic and export market to stir the imagination and nurture entrepreneurial dreams. With India pushing connectivity projects through seaports in Bangladesh and Myanmar, beekeepers in the region can also eye the honey export market in the neighbourhood. The region cannot afford the Sweet Revolution to bypass it if it wants the honeybee to sweeten the life of farmers by fetching additional income and generating employment through boosting scientific production of the golden liquid.