Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) organized ‘Honey Fair-2025’ and a seminar titled ‘BSCIC’s activities for the development of beekeeping in Bangladesh: Future steps’ was held. Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Dr. Md. Mokhles Ur Rahman inaugurated the seminar and fair as the chief guest at the BSCIC head office in Tejgaon, Dhaka on Sunday at 9 am. Md. Obaidur Rahman, Secretary of the Ministry of Industries, was present as a special guest at the event. The event was presided over by BSCIC Chairman Mr. Md. Saiful Islam.
Chief guest Dr. Md. Mokhles Ur Rahman highlighted the benefits and importance of honey and said, “We hear the names of various fairs from time to time which are organized in villages or other places.” However, the idea of the honey fair is completely new, thanks to BSCIC for this. Many people from the Agricultural University have come to today’s seminar, and I have a request to them: please include honey in your curriculum. It will benefit us greatly if we learn about this product and its properties from a young age. I would request BSCIC to organize such events with honey in an open environment instead of keeping them indoors.
At the inaugural ceremony, Industries Secretary Obaidur Rahman said, “We need to develop the habit of consuming natural honey as an alternative to sugar.” He also said that a strict stance should be taken against traders of adulterated honey and honey mixed with sugar.
The keynote address of the event was presented by Professor Dr. Mohammad Sakhawat Hossain, Professor, Department of Entomology, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. He said, “Honey has been used as a food and medicinal ingredient for humans since ancient times.” Honey is produced through beekeeping naturally and scientifically in various regions of Bangladesh, including the Sundarbans, Madhupur Garh, Sherpur Tangail, and Dinajpur. With the use of honey boxes, training of entrepreneurs, and government support, honey has now become a promising industry. It is not only nutritious food, but can also make a significant contribution to the country’s economy by creating employment, increasing agricultural production, and earning foreign exchange.
Md. Al Amin, founder of beekeeping startup Nataro, said, “Appropriate remuneration must be set to maintain the quality of honey and improve the lives of beekeepers.”
On behalf of the beekeepers, Afzal Hossain said, “To improve honey, the use of food-graded containers should be made mandatory and action should be taken against sellers of adulterated honey.” He also demanded a low-interest loan system to help beekeepers.
Beekeeping entrepreneur Shishir Kumar Saha demanded higher training for beekeepers to protect the health of bees and improve their breed.
In his welcome speech, the BSCIC Chairman said, Training of BSCIC entrepreneurs to increase honey production, provision of honey boxes as well as construction of plants for honey purification, BSCIC will conduct a promotional campaign to ensure that the honey produced is processed to international standards and exported abroad, So that new horizons for earning foreign exchange are opened in the country’s economy.
It is worth noting that the current total production of honey in the country is 7,546 MT’s. The fair has 30 stalls of beekeepers from different parts of the country. The five-day fair will run from August 31 to September 5, 2025, from 10 am to 8 pm daily.