India’s bond with honey and beekeeping activities can be historically dated back to the Mesolithic age. We have been harvesting honey for its nourishing potency while embracing it into the timeless culture of our nation. Today, beekeeping has become an essential component in the agrarian economy not only for honey but also for various other products like beeswax, bee venom, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly. In short, the Indian apiculture market is a promising economy that is expected to touch Rs 33,128 million by 2024 as reported by IMARC.
With tremendous export possibilities and exceptional healing capacity, honey is sincerely benefiting our physical and financial health. However, the room for refinement in production and procurement activities cannot be denied. Acknowledging this situation Samriddha Gram has designed a system to support beekeepers so high-quality honey could be procured in the smoothest possible manner. This system provides accurate traceability of honey from the farm to your spoon. We will now describe the procedure systematically!
Challenges faced by beekeepers
- Technological backwardness
- Poor marketing structure
- Insufficient awareness
To resolve these issues, Samriddha Gram has developed a unique mechanism that collectively solves the major and minor issues prevalent in this sector. As per the NBHM (National Beekeeping and Honey Mission) under MSME (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), we are focused on helping the entire beekeeping economy rise. This process takes help from two platforms stated ahead.
In an effort to ensure quality and prevent adulteration, the Union Agriculture Ministry launched a portal for online registration to create a traceability system for procuring honey and other beehive products. The National Bee Board (NBB) under the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) was launched as an online portal called “Madhukranti” in the year 2021. This portal was created to maintain a database of all stakeholders involved in the Honey production, sales, and marketing chain. As of now, a total of 13099 beekeepers, 159 beekeeping and honey societies, 109 firms, and 102 companies are registered on the MadhuKranti portal.
SU-MADHU
It is a first-of-its-kind initiative to digitize traditional beekeeping so as to ensure traceability and quality control in honey production. Its long-term vision is to aid traditional beekeepers in hassle-free selling of their products online through the “Annadata” Mobile application. The Su-Madhu dashboard consolidates all the data from the application for the perusal of the government of India to formulate strategies for strengthening the Apiary industry, Beekeeper welfare, exports, etc.
Usage of these platforms’ benefits beekeepers, traders, manufacturers, vendors, and the government of India. Moreover, its alignment with the Annadata mobile app will help farmers sell honey directly to end consumers. Thus, Samriddha Gram provides extensive training and post-training support to farmers so they can improve their productivity and generate fair income. In due time, India’s beekeeping movement will automatically get structured, boosting the rural economy to new heights.