Bangladesh produces an estimated 10,000 tons of honey per year even though the country has the potential to produce more than 1.5 million tons of honey, also known as "Liquid Gold", annually.
The apparent lack of access to markets, widely held misconceptions about bee cultivation on crop land, indiscriminate use of pesticides and insecticides and pest controls are believed to have been the main reasons behind this below par production.
Honey cultivators, industry experts and government officials highlighted these problems at the inauguration of the Annual Honey Fair at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council on Monday. The fair has been organized by the Agricultural Extension Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.
More than 70 business organizations, including government departments and relevant stakeholders as also cultivators, are taking part in the fair which will end on February 19.
Belayet Hossain, proprietor of the nationally recognized and award winning Moti Modhu, said: "We do not have any problem with regard to production. Some honey cultivators are leaving the trade because they were deprived of easy access to the market."
"Some local corporate houses and importers have been selling and marketing low quality honey in the country. There will be no shortage of local honey if the government closely monitors the honey trade and regulates imported honey," he said.
Photo shows bottles of honey displayed Annual Honey Fair at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council on Monday, February 17, 2020 | Rajib Dhar/Dhaka Tribune
An ardent honey enthusiast, Abul Kalam, who came to the fair from Mirpur, said: "I came here to collect pure honey. Honey is available in the markets. However, it is not reliable for consumption. Some unscrupulous traders are selling sweet syrup in jars by different brands in the name of honey."
Kabir Hossain, proprietor of Sohee Foods Ltd from Satkhira, said: "We collect honey from the Sundarbans. We incur higher costs. That is why the price is so high. If you want pure honey, you will have to pay for the collection and marketing cost."
Dr Syed Nurul Alam, former director of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, presented the keynote paper at the inaugural event, and pointed out seven problems in the industry.
He urged the authorities to help enable cultivators get easy access to markets, so that they were not deprived of the proper price. Expressin the urgency for commissioning a comprehensive project over honey production to spread honey-bee cultivation.
He also suggested to form a task-force comprising of relevant ministries and come up with alternative to pesticides in an effort to increase production as more honey Bees could be found in the country side free of pesticides.
Addressing the event, Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque said: "We are surplus in some crop production and have limitations in some crop. We must address all the deficiencies. As per our election manifesto, he said that the government will take steps to increase production capacity by adopting advanced automation and commercialization.
Dr Razzaque said: "An organization exported 300 tons of honey to Japan this year and the organization has received more export orders.”
"Bee cultivation is not possible without a queen bee. We are working to increase the population of Queen Bees by using modern methods of technology," Abdur Razzaque said.