NEW DELHI, July 24: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday inaugurated the government’s first honey testing lab at the National Dairy Development Board in Anand district of Gujarat, saying this will ensure quality product in domestic and global markets besides better prices for farmers.
More such labs will be set up in the future across the country as the Government is encouraging beekeeping as part of its aim to double the income of farmers, he said.
Inaugurating the lab via electronic mode amid the COVID-19 crisis, Tomar said the testing lab is the need of the hour at a time when the country’s honey production and exports have been rising in the last few years.
“The new lab will test honey as per the norms specified by the food safety regulator FSSAI. The quality honey will boost exports and ensure better rates to farmers,” he said.
Since all farmers cannot take their samples for testing to NDDB in Gujarat, more labs need to be set up in the future for the benefit of small farmers, he said.
More infrastructure will be developed as the Government has set aside Rs 500 crore to promote beekeeping businesses as part of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package to those affected by COVID-19 lockdown, he added.
Tomar further said while on one side there is need to increase production and export of honey, on the other side the focus should be on encouraging landless farmers to take up beekeeping business.
Speaking on the occasion, Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj Singh stressed on the need to create more awareness about honey and its quality besides the testing facility.
“For instance, mustard honey gets solidified because of the way it is processed. But people mistake it to be an adulteration. We need to bust such misconceptions among people,” he said.
While expressing concern about adulterated honey, Minister of State for Agriculture Parshottam Rupala and Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Sanjeev Balyan pitched for setting up of more testing labs outside Gujarat so that more farmers can take benefit of the facility.
Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agrawal said the government’s focus is on creating infrastructure to ensure quality honey production in the country. About Rs 7.7 crore funding is being provided for setting up the testing lab.
According to NDDB Chairman Dilip Rath, the honey testing lab has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and Export Inspection Council. It has also got approval from FSSAI as a national reference lab.
“After FSSAI notified quality standards for honey, there was no comprehensive testing lab in the country. Now that NDDB has set up a testing lab, we can test the purity of honey and check for any adulteration, chemical substance, residue, heavy metals or antibodies,” he said.
However, to test the “country of origin” besides purity for export purpose as specified by the Union Commerce Ministry in its recent circular, Rath said Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is required for which it will send a proposal to the Agriculture Ministry.
The National Bee Board said a decade-long demand of setting up a government testing facility for honey has come true on Friday. It is a milestone in the honey sector. This will help exporters as they need not take their samples to countries like Germany for quality testing. (PTI)
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