Keeping in view the importance of beekeeping as part of the Integrated Farming System in the country, the government approved the allocation for Rs.500 crore for National Beekeeping and Honey Mission for the next three years. This mission was announced as part of the ambitious ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat’ scheme. Now, NBHM aims for the overall promotion and development of scientific beekeeping in the country to achieve the goal of ‘Sweet Revolution’.

The objective of this campaign is to promote holistic growth of beekeeping industry for income and employment generation for households, to enhance agriculture and horticulture production, developing infrastructural facilities, including setting up of Integrated Beekeeping Development Centres, honey testing labs, bee disease diagnostic labs, custom hiring centres, Api-therapy centres, nucleus stock, bee breeders and empowerment of women through beekeeping.

Besides,  the scheme also aims to create awareness about scientific beekeeping under Mini Mission-I, post-harvest management of beekeeping, beehive products, including collection, processing, storage, marketing, value addition, etc. under Mini Mission-II and Research and Technology generation in beekeeping under Mini Mission-III. Rs.150.00 crores have been allotted to NBHM for the financial year 2020-21.

At least 11 projects of Rs.2560 lakhs have been sanctioned under NBHM for Awareness and Capacity building in scientific beekeeping, empowerment of Women through beekeeping, technology demonstrations on the impact of Honeybees on yield enhancement & quality improvements of agriculture and horticulture produce. It also aims to make farmers aware of the distribution of specialized Beekeeping equipment for the production of high-value products, viz. Royal Jelly, Bee Venom, Comb Honey, etc, and also about the studies on exploring the potential of High Altitude Honey, production of special honey in Kannauj and Hathrus Districts of UP and use of mustard honey to cure colon cancer during the year 2020-21.

Two World-Class State of the Art Honey Testing Labs, one at NDDB, Anand in Gujarat and one IIHR, Bengaluru in Karnataka, have been approved or set up. Lab at Anand has been accredited by NABL. Now Lab has started testing Honey samples for all the parameters notified by FSSAI.

Proposal for developing Traceability Source of Honey and other Beehive Products approved and work initiated. This will help in controlling the adulteration in honey and other beehive products.

Farmers and beekeepers have been trained in scientific beekeeping including the production of high-value beehive products, viz.; Bee Pollen, Propolis, Royal Jelly, Bee Venom, etc.

Five FPOs of Beekeeper and honey producers in the States of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal have been formed and launched by Minister of Agriculture.

At least 16 Integrated Beekeeping Development Centres as a role model of beekeeping have been commissioned, one each in Haryana, Delhi, Bihar, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Jammu-Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh states.

Awareness created about the role of honeybees and beekeeping in pollination support of various crops and adoption of scientific beekeeping.

Beekeeping is an agro-based activity which is being undertaken by farmers and landless labourers in the rural area as a part of Integrated Farming System. Beekeeping has been useful in the pollination of crops, thereby, increasing income of the farmers by way of increasing crop yield and providing honey and other high-value beehive products, like beeswax, bee pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, etc. Diversified agro-climatic conditions of India provide great potential and opportunities for beekeeping and export of Honey.