About four and a half lakh farmers in Bangladesh are involved in honey farming. Scientific beekeeping has created employment for so many farmers, which was not the case even 10 years ago. These farmers produce an average of 800 to 900 tonnes of honey a year. People in villages who once could not support their families by farming now keep bees, and their households are doing well on honey production. In many parts of the country beekeeping is playing an important role in rural socio-economic development. The information came from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and from talking to people at the National Bee Fair under way in the capital.

The fair is being held on the premises of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) at Farmgate in the capital. Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque opened the three-day fair on Monday (17 February). The agriculture ministry has organised the fair for the fourth time. It is open to everyone from 9am to 9pm and runs until 19 February.

A visit to the fair on Tuesday showed that honey farmers from districts and upazilas across the country had brought their honey, including Adil Mou Khamar, Sundarban Bee and Honey Farm, Sajib Mou Khamar, Sonargaon Mou Khamar, Mouchak Agro Food, Solid Modhu, Tawhid Modhu, Azad Mollar Modhu and Allar Dan Mou Khamar. Not only farmers: a total of 74 stalls have a place at the fair, including well-known brands Api and Dabur Honey, the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), the Agriculture Information Service and the DAE. Visitor numbers on the fair's second day were striking.

On honey production in the country, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque told Jagonews24: "Honey is a new addition to the modernisation and commercialisation of agriculture, which will help diversify our exports. Honey used to be produced on a limited scale, but commercial production has now begun."

He said: "Honey is a unique food for meeting nutritional needs. Agricultural Bangladesh has huge potential for beekeeping, its development and expansion. Expanding beekeeping plays an important role in meeting nutritional needs as well as in increasing fruit and crop production through pollination."

According to the DAE, 4,22,636 farmers keep bees across the country, and many others outside the list also do so. Honey production was 1,022.306 tonnes in the 2015-16 financial year, 1,056.949 tonnes in 2016-17, 743.963 tonnes in 2017-18 and 896.571 tonnes in 2018-19.

The upmarket brand Api is selling honey from a stall at the fair, where a large banner clearly states that it exports honey to Japan. Riazul Hasan, an Api official, said in reply to a question about exports to Japan: "This time we have received an order to export 400 tonnes of honey to Japan. We buy most of the honey from the country's farmers. It has to be purified by machine before export. We only buy honey from those who produce good honey."

He said: "We still have 500 tonnes of honey in stock."

Ahsan Habib Khokon, owner of Adil Mou Khamar, told Jagonews24: "I have a printing business. Even so, I took training from BSCIC and started keeping bees. Gradually I came to like this business, because I can give people something good to eat. There is adulteration and dishonesty in the printing business, so I get no peace from it. But I get real peace from producing honey, because in this age of adulteration I can give people a good food."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.