BENGALURU: The Karnataka forest department is encouraging the production and sale of honey collected by forest dwellers and tribals to encourage rural and tribal tourism and make them financially independent. With this in mind, the department is also popularising jungle safaris to increase tourists’ interactions with tribals and boost honey sales.
Tribals and forest-dwellers have traditional knowledge in honey-collection. But their produce is not commercialised on a large scale because of multiple reasons, including lack of market visibility, limited production and sales, poor marketing and commercial exposure.
Now to address all these, forest officials of all the five tiger reserves, using the Project Tiger funds, are helping tribals and forest dwellers with bee boxes and technical support. “We will also sell the honey collected by these people at souvenir stores run by the department and Jungle Lodges & Resorts. We will also sell them in the nearest urban centres, and even online so that a person sitting in Bengaluru can get pure unadulterated honey,” said a forest department official.
In Kali Tiger Reserve, honey collected by Kunbi tribals is being sold under the brand name of ‘Adavi’ or ‘Adavi Jhenkara’. In Bandipur and Nagarhole Tiger Reserves, the department has distributed bee boxes and the honey procured is being sold through the Large Area Multi Purpose (LAMP) Society. In BRT Tiger Reserve, small quantities are being sold by Jainu Kurubas through the LAMP Society and through the National Rural Livelihood Mission. The department is now partnering with tribals to supply bee boxes and is helping increase their honey production and sales.
Researchers and experts at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) said this is a good initiative as it will stop the increasing sale of adulterated honey.
“Around 85% of the honey sold in Indian domestic markets is adulterated. Also FSSAI has set 17 parameters to be met while selling honey, but they are met only when Indian honey is imported. This type of honey made in forests will be multi-floral. It will be free from antibiotics and artificial sweeteners. Samples of honey sold in Kodagu through the LAMP society have been tested and were found to be pure. Similarly, honey collected by dwellers from Sunderbans is also very popular. Such production and sales should be encouraged,” an IIHR scientist, who is working on the project, said.