Vinay Kumar Saxena, Chairman of Khadi and Village Industries Commission, while speaking at the first online National Conference on Honey “Honey Season 2020”, organized by FICCI and KVIC with support from the directorate of Horticulture, Government of Assam, said said KVIC is focused on promoting the honey Industry. He complimented FICCI on the unique initiative taken up by the industry body to promote the bee keeping and honey industry.
He further said, North East has huge potential for Honey production, particularly monofloral honey with specific properties, like rubber honey in Tripura. He also mentioned that KVIC is working on developing mobile Honey Processing units for the benefit of beekeepers in remote areas. “KVIC has set a world record in distribution of bee boxes in a single day, under the Mission 1000 bee boxes were distributed to villagers around Kaziranga.” He further added.
Ranjit Barthakur, Chairman of FICCI- Northeast Advisory Council, while welcoming the participants & panelists, highlighted the importance of integrating nature in decision making process. He said “the world view towards nature positive business structure and estimations associated with opportunities and employment show that there could be an annual savings and revenue of $15 billion by 2030 – marking 2030 as the year of magnanimous changes and the benchmark set by international bodies such as the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization and the Agenda 30 (which is committed to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development worldwide). It is time that industries and companies started building resiliency with the help of collective leadership, and inspiring companies and governments can learn from the current Coronavirus pandemic and integrate nature into their decision-making process”
Dr. Subodh Jindal, President, All India Food Processors Association, who was also present during the conference, highlighted on the importance of changing the strategy of bee keeping in India in order to become a global player. To compete globally, it is also important that strict monitoring of quality standards are ensured by adopting NMR(Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) technology & adequate market support to be extended to bee keepers.
Over 300 participants from across the North East and other states of India participated in the program. Among others who were present during the conference include Abdul Jalil, Director of Horticulture & Food processing, Govt of Assam, who spoke on the initiatives under taken by his department to develop the honey industry in the state, Jawahar Lal Chaudhari, Former, Dy. CEO, KVIC who highlighted on the importance of devising insurance policies which covers bee related ailments & diseases, Dr. Sukamal Deb, Dy. CEO, KVIC-Northeast, Anup Dhanuka, MD, Kejriwal Honey, Sagar Kurade, MD, Suman Food consultants, N.K. Lotha, Team Member & Nodal, Nagaland Honey Mission, who spoke on the various initiatives & narrated the success story so far since inception, L. . Abraham, CEO, Ria foods, Manoj Kr. Das, MD, NERAMAC, S. Bhattacharjee, Chairman, Sub-Committee on Agro-food processing & non- timber forest products, FICCI-Northeast Advisory Council.
