27-Jun-2022: Inauguration of Honey Testing Lab in Nagaland by Union Agriculture Minister, Visit to Bamboo Museum and Organic Market

The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the Government of India wants to realize the vision of all-round and balanced development in the country. Shri Tomar said that it is the belief of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi that if the strength of the Northeast will increase, then the country's strength will consolidate and with this strength the nation will move forward.

“The Northeast Region cannot be overlooked when it comes to all-round development. Therefore, through the schemes-programmes, funding and institutions of the government, it is our constant endeavour that the northeastern region should not depend on anyone, but should stand on its own feet and be able to contribute its fullest to the country's development. That is why the Prime Minister visits this area time and again and he has also asked his cabinet ministers to visit this area regularly and understand the difficulties here and quickly solve the problems related to their departments. He launched many schemes for the development of the Northeast in the last few years, so that the neglect which has been done here for years can be compensated,” said Shri Tomar, at an event organized at the North-East Agri Expo, Chumaokedlma today.

Shri Tomar said that it is a matter of good fortune and happiness for all of us that our Prime Minister is Shri Modi, who has the trust of the country and his popularity is soaring in the world too.

“When the leadership of the country is capable and empowered, it becomes easy for the citizens to move forward. If the citizens are fully prepared, then the leadership also gets strengthened and find solutions to the problems facing the country and we are able to reach our goals easily,” he said.

Shri Tomar said that in the last 8 years the Union Government has relentlessly tried to work sincerely to eradicate poverty, inequality and unemployment in our country.

“If there is an imbalance in the society and the country, it becomes difficult to move forward. After taking oath Shri Modi started doing concrete work to remove poverty and imbalance, in this effort crores of Jan-Dhan accounts of the poor have been opened and they have been benefited continuously through many schemes. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme the central government has given more than Rs 2 lakh crore to 11-and-a-half crore farmers so far, each farmer getting Rs. 6,000 rupees every year, this is not a simple matter. During Covid, 80 crore people have been given free ration and other facilities were also provided by the Center,” he said.

Later, Shri Tomar launched the Honey Testing Laboratory at Dimapur, Nagaland, which will help beekeepers and processors for testing the honey produced. He also visited the Bamboo Museum and Organic AC Market. During these events, the Agriculture Minister of Nagaland Shri G. Kaito, Chief Secretary Shri J. Alam, Central Horticulture Commissioner Shri Prabhat Kumar, other senior officers and distinguished people, farmers and scientists were present.

24-Jul-2020: World Class State of the Art Honey Testing Lab inaugurated at Anand, Gujarat

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurated the ‘World Class State of Art Honey Testing Laboratory’ established by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)in Anand(Gujarat) with support of  National Bee Board (NBB), through Video Conference in the presence of Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Parshottam Rupala and Shri Kailash Choudhary, Union Ministers of State for Agriculture, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Union Minister of State (FAH&D)and senior officers of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare and Department of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

On this occasion, the Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare thanked Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and mentioned about his vision to bring sweet revolution in the country by encouraging large number of famers for production and marketing of Honey and earn more profit in agriculture. Addressing the meeting through VC, he stated that the Government is committed towards increasing the income of farmers and the Bee-keeping enterprise has to play a major role in supplementing the income of farmers. He further informed that the Ministry has taken up several activities to promote bee keeping under ‘Mission on Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)’‘National Mission for Beekeeping’ being implemented through National Bee Board and the States.

Shri Tomar expressed the need to focus on imparting training on scientific bee-keeping and production of high value honey and honey-bee products and creating awareness among farmers, bee-keepers and land less laborers about the scope and potential of bee-keeping enterprise as an additional source of income to them. He intimated that the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare has approved the National Bee Keeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) for a period of 2 years. In view of the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister for development of Gaon, Garib and Kisan, the bee-keeping enterprise would bring change in the livelihood of farmers and rural poor leading to sustainable agriculture development.

The Union Agriculture Minister complimented National Dairying Development Board, National Bee Board, Khadi & Village Industries Corporation, policy makers, farmers & bee-keepers for their significant contribution and continued support in this endeavor. The Agriculture Minister further emphasized on increasing bee colonies, honey bee production, processing, marketing and export, which would significantly contribute in GDP and boosting the rural economy.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Giriraj Singh, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said that adulteration is a major problem in honey production and honey is being adulterated with high fructose corn syrup or rice, tapioca, sugarcane and beet syrup that are cheaper and resemble honey in physico-chemical properties. He thanked the Prime Minister for shifting the focus towards bringing ‘Sweet Revolution’ in the country through such interventions. He further stated that the establishment of this Honey Testing Laboratory will help for quality production of honey and its export to other countries. He also suggested to promote the cultivation of flora based crops to enhance the production of honey & honey bee products.

Union Ministers of State Shri Parshottam Rupala, Shri Kailash Choudhary and Dr. Sanjeev Balyan also expressed their views and suggested to establish more Honey Testing Laboratories in the country.

Based on the parameters notified by FSSAI, the NDDB has set-up this world class lab with all the facilities and developed the test methods/protocols, which have been accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).FSSAI has now notified new standards of Honey, Bee Wax and Royal Jelly.

The Union Agriculture Minister also inaugurated ‘Two Days Online Training Programme on Scientific Honey-bee Production’ being conducted by National Dairying Development Board(NDDB) and extended compliments to the trainees for their participation in the said programme.