The committee was set up to identify ways of advancing beekeeping in India that can help in improving agricultural productivity, enhancing employment generation. 

Government is considering giving status of farmers to landless beekeepers while recognizing honeybees as inputs to agriculture and diversifying the basket of beekeeping products as it aims to double farmers’ income by 2022. 

Bibek Debroy-led beekeeping development committee under the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister had proposed over half-a-dozen recommendations to the PM to enhance the contribution of the sector in achieving the 2022 target of doubling farmer incomes.

The committee was set up to identify ways of advancing beekeeping in India that can help in improving agricultural productivity, enhancing employment generation, augmenting nutritional security and sustaining biodiversity. It has submitted the report to the PM. 

As per the committee report, government should recognizing honeybees as inputs to agriculture and considering landless beekeepers as farmers besides ensuring the plantation of bee friendly flora at appropriate places. 
The committee has suggested that the government institutionalizing the National Bee Board and rechristening it as the Honey and Pollinators Board of India under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. 

“Such a body would engage in advancing beekeeping through multiple mechanisms such as setting up of new integrated bee development centres, strengthening the existing ones, creating a honey price stabilization fund and collection of data on important aspects of apiculture,”the committee has suggested. According to the committee report, there is a need to simplifying procedures and specify clear standards for ease of exporting honey and other bee products. 

As per Food and Agricultural Organization database, Indian ranked eighth in 2017-18 in the world in terms of honey production at 64.9 thousand tonnes while China stood first with a production level of 551 thousand tonnes. 

The report mentions that beekeeping cannot be restricted to honey and wax only. “Products such as pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom are also marketable and can greatly help Indian farmers,” it said. 

As per the report, India has a potential of about 200 million bee colonies as against 3.4 million bee colonies today. “Increasing the number of bee colonies will not only increase the production of bee-related products but will boost overall agricultural and horticultural productivity,” it said. 

India’s honey exports have jumped from 29.6 to 51.5 thousand tonnes between2014-15 and 2017-18 as per data from National Bee Board and Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.