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Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, said on Thursday that due to the collective efforts of the beekeepers and the government, the production of honey in the country in 2020-21 increased to 1.25 lakh metric tonnes from 76,150 metric tonnes in 2013-14.

"At the same time, with the help of the stakeholders associated with the beekeeping sector, the export of honey in 2020-21 increased from 28,000 metric tonnes in 2013-14 to about 60,000 metric tonnes," Tomar said after virtually inaugurating the Kisan Bhawan and Beekeeper Conference at the Central Institute of Horticulture, Nagaland.

Keeping in view the interests of the small and marginal farmers of the Northeastern region in horticulture, the Central Institute of Horticulture, Nagaland, has been established under the Central Sector Scheme.

Tomar expressed the expectation from the state governments that taking advantage of all the facilities, beekeepers should be provided good prices for their produce, saying, "We all should have the same goal that small farmers should get the maximum price for their products. Bringing a change in the lives of small and medium farmers is a major goal of the Central government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

Describing beekeeping as an auxiliary area for increasing the income of farmers, Tomar said that the Honey Mission has been started to usher in a sweet revolution and the Central government has spent Rs 500 crore on it.

The provision has been made under the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' campaign. Under the government of India's plan to form 10,000 new farmer producer organisations (FPOs), FPOs of honey-producing farmers are also being created.

"To test honey properly, labs have been set up in many places in the country and processing facilities are also being increased," the minister said.

An exhibition of farmers' products was organised at the venue of the programme. Mini kits were also provided to the farmers for new experiments in farming.