:During 2017-18, the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) of the Ministry of MSME launched the Honey Mission programme.
It is being implemented in rural India to promote beekeeping activities and provide self-sustaining EMPLOYMENT opportunities for farmers, Adivasis, and unemployed youth.
Beneficiaries receive Bee Boxes, tool kits, live bee colonies, and training as part of the program.
Additionally, traditional beekeepers are provided with long-term employment through the Ministry of MSME’s Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI), which organises them into clusters and provides them with new machinery and training.
The scheme has approved 29 honey clusters, which will benefit 13,388 beekeepers, and the Indian government has provided financial assistance of Rs.68.65 crore.
It is also proposed that in the financial year 2021-22, eight Self-Help Groups be formed to benefit 80 beekeepers in the Bundelkhand Region.