(The Gist of PIB) Inauguration of Honey FPOs under the “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs” Scheme

(THE GIST OF PIB) Inauguration of Honey FPOs under the “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs” Scheme

Honey FPO Programme was inaugurated in 5 states as a cooperative programme for beekeepers and honey collectors.

Honey FPOs will help in upgrading skills in scientific beekeeping and setting up state-of-the-art infrastructural facilities for processing honey and allied products.
These FPOs will benefit the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission of National Bee Board.
It is being implemented by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) under Ministry of Agriculture.
The programme was launched under Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs scheme.
It is a Central Sector Scheme which was announced in budget 2019-20 to scale income of farmers by handholding FPO's for next 5 years.
FPOs are collective organisations of farmers (especially small and marginal) working for mobilizing farmers and building their capacity to collectively leverage their production and marketing strength.

According to FAO, India ranks 8th in the world in terms of honey production.
Beekeeping is a highly underdeveloped and unorganized sector mostly prevalent among the rural and tribal population.
Adoption of beekeeping can enhance livelihood incomes of unemployed women and tribal populations.