CHITWAN: Beekeepers in Chitwan have submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Sushila Karki through Chief District Officer Ganesh Aryal, urging the government to reconsider its recent decision prioritizing imported honey over domestic production.
On October 13, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, in coordination with the Federation of Nepal Beekeepers and in the presence of Minister Dr. Madan Prasad Pariyar, decided to purchase 10 metric tons of mustard honey from local producers while allowing imports of 125 metric tons of honey for Dabur Nepal and 40 metric tons for Patanjali Ayurveda under the second quarterly quota.
The decision has drawn strong opposition from bee farmers, who argue that it undermines domestic beekeeping and was made with the participation of only a handful of representatives.
Outgoing Federation president Shiva Poudel said that allowing foreign honey imports during the main production and sales period, from Ashoj to Chaitra, is detrimental to Nepali farmers. He called on the government to promote domestic honey production through policy support and import substitution measures.
Poudel warned that, without such intervention, multinational companies and large intermediaries could dominate the market, leaving Nepali bee farmers without fair opportunities.
According to data from the Federation, Nepal produces around 1,500 metric tons of mustard honey, 2,000 metric tons of Chiuri (Nepali butter tree) honey, and about 500 metric tons of other varieties annually.
Commercial beekeeping began in Nepal in 1994 and now includes about 130,000 hives of the mellifera breed and 170,000 hives of the serena (apis cerana) breed, yielding approximately 5,000 metric tons of honey each year. Around 12,000 farmers are directly engaged in mellifera beekeeping, while thousands more practice traditional serena beekeeping across the country.
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