National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM)

National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM)- Relevance for UPSC Exam

GS Paper 2: Governance, Administration and Challenges- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
GS Paper 3: Indian Agriculture- Economics of animal-rearing.

The recently held National Conference on Beekeeping Sector saw a discussion on National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) and its significance.
National Conference on Beekeeping Sector was organized by the National Bee Board (NBB) in collaboration with-
- National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED),
- Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) &
- National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

Background: National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) was launched in 2020, keeping in view the importance of beekeeping as part of the Integrated Farming System in the country.
- National Beekeeping & Honey Mission was announced as part of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat scheme.
About: National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) is a central sector scheme launched by Govt. of India for overall promotion & development of scientific beekeeping in the country.
Mandate: National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) aims for the overall promotion & development of scientific beekeeping in the country to achieve the goal of ‘Sweet Revolution’.
- ‘Sweet Revolution’ is being implemented through National Bee Board (NBB).
Funding: Government approved the allocation for Rs. 500 crores for National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM)- a Central Sector Scheme for three years (2020-21 to 2022-23).
Parent Ministry: National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM) is being implemented under overall supervision and guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

To promote holistic growth of the beekeeping industry for income & employment generation for farm and non-farm households,
To enhance agriculture/ horticulture production, developing infrastructural facilities, including setting up of Integrated Beekeeping Development Centre (IBDC)s/CoE, honey testing labs, bee disease diagnostic labs, custom hiring centres, Api-therapy centres, bee breeders, etc.
To empowerment of women through beekeeping
To create awareness about scientific beekeeping under Mini Mission-I,
To promote post-harvest management of beekeeping, beehive products, including collection, processing, storage, marketing, value addition, etc. under Mini Mission-II and
To support Research & Technology generation in beekeeping under Mini Mission-III.
To make farmers aware about the distribution of specialized Beekeeping equipment for production of high value products, viz. Royal Jelly, Bee Venom, Comb Honey, etc.

About: Beekeeping is an Agro-based activity which is being undertaken by farmers/ landless labourers in the rural areas as a part of the Integrated Farming System (IFS).
Importance: Beekeeping has been useful in the pollination of crops, thereby, increasing the income of the farmers/beekeepers by way of increasing crop yield and providing honey and other high-value beehive products, viz.; beeswax, bee pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bee venom, etc.
Potential: Diversified Agro-climatic conditions of India provide great potential and opportunities for beekeeping/ honey production and export of Honey.

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