Bihar’s Banka district is undergoing sweet changes these days as a result of a Honey Mission. There has been a sea of change in the lives of the Santhal tribal women of the Naxal-affected areas after they turned to bee farming, as they are now running lucrative businesses of organic honey production and sale. Their sweet honey is now sold to other districts of Bihar as well as other states of the country.
Indian Masterminds presents a report on how Banka district is succesfully turning bee farming and honey production into an industry and how the state horticulture department is promoting them by providing technical assistance and all possible help.
THE BEE FARMERS OF BANKA
The National Beekeeping and Honey Mission was announced by the Union Government as part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package in 2020. The scheme is implemented by the National Bee Board (NBB) and is approved for three years, from 2020 to 2023. But, in Bihar’s Banka district, it is already a success. Santhal tribal women of the district are engaging in active beekeeping in fully secure boxes. Even the farmers of a dozen villages of the Naxal-affected area are turning to beekeeping and honey production as their means of livelihood.
To promote honey production in the district, technical assistance is being provided to the farmers by the Horticulture Department. Not only this, a processing plant has also been established at Karjhosa in the district for the processing of honey, in which the honey produced by all the beekeepers of Banka will be collected and processed at one place and then packed and sent to all the blocks. A sales counter under the aegis of ‘Banka Madhu Producer Group’ has also been opened where the honey is sold at a cheaper rate. This honey is very popular because of its medicinal properties that are epecially helpful to ward off or control malnutrition and diabetes.
SUPPORT FROM THE ADMINISTRATION
The district administration is providing all possible help to the tribal women and farmers to increase their business. Banka district magistrate IAS Suharsha Bhagat said, “We have identified a honey corridor, which passes through Purnia, Bhagalpur, Banka, Godda and Dumka. By moving the boxes along this route, honey production can be boosted to six to seven months of the year. Earlier, the production of honey in Banka was limited to two to three months, but now it has been increased to six to seven months. We have trained marginalized tribal women to keep honey and the results are promising.”
The state government is also promoting the products made by the rural women by helping them find new markets. The government has launched a web portal to sell products made by rural women and farmers. Through this portal, women can directly sell to consumers anywhere in India and get good margin and profit.
HELP FROM FPO
The tribal women are associated with a Farmer Producer Organization (FPO), ‘Banka Madhu Kisan Udyog’, which helps in selling their honey to other states. This FPO was registered in 2020. Out of its total 350 members, 200 are rural women. And more than 60 percent members of this FPO are tribals. Out of the total annual honey production of 50 tonnes in Banka district, 40 tonnes is produced by this FPO alone.
BEEKEEPING TRAINING
Beekeeping training is also given from time to time in the E-Kisan Bhawan located in the block office premises of the district. Recently a 3-day training camp was organised, where 70 trainees were also given certificates. The trained people were added to ‘Banka Honey Producer Group’ and were encouraged to go for honey production. They will also be sent outside Bihar to make better profits from honey production. All the trainees will be provided with a bee box as well as a honey extractor by the Horticulture Department.
SAFETY MEASURES
With the help of the administration, tribal women receive beekeeping boxes at 90 percent subsidy. Each woman has to pay only 10 per cent of the box cost i.e. around Rs. 500. They also get caps with mesh to wear on their face for safety.
THE SWEET HONEY STORY
Depending on the season and wind direction, the honey collection per box ranges from 2 to 2.5 kg every 15 to 18 days. January to March is the best time for honey bees due to the mass flowering. During the spring, flowers bloom everywhere and honey production is encouraged. There is no production during monsoon.
According to agriculture scientists, honey production is usually not done from May to August. During this period, at many places, bees are kept alive on sugar syrup. But, in many areas of Banka, a large number of palm and date palm trees are available as well as a special type of wild grass, on which flowers bloom and the bees camp on them and collect honey from the juice. So, keeping in mind the seasons, tribal women would hire a tempo and some male workers to send their boxes to the areas where crops have flowered.
On an average, a honey box helps in earning Rs 2,000 to Rs. 2,500 per year. Last year, despite the pandemic and the lockdowns, Banka district produced 50 tonnes or about 50,000 kg of honey. The honey sells between Rs. 300 to Rs. 500 per kg.
TURNING PM MODI’S VISION INTO REALITY
Ever since Covid 19 emergence, people have started consuming honey more as it is believed that it helps to cure cold and cough. During the lockdowns, too, people in villages were consuming honey regularly. This boosted sales and the honey business did not get much affected.
PM Narendra Modi’s call for a ‘sweet revolution’ in 2016 with the vision to double the income of the farmers by 2024 is already turning out to be a reality, as far as the district of Banka is concerned.
