Economy

India's Honey Boom: The Sweet Export Story Still Hooked on One Buyer

India is now the world's second-largest honey producer and third-largest exporter by value, but the bulk of its exports goes to a single market at below-average prices. Ashok Gulati and his ICRIER co-authors argue the 'sweet revolution' must remodel itself into a premium, sustainable honey economy, and protect the bee that pollinates the harvest.

Jasvin Thinks2026-08-1610 min read

Why is a column about honey really a column about India's trade strategy? Because the jar on the shelf, as agricultural economist Ashok Gulati puts it, is the smallest part of the story. On August 15, while India celebrated Independence Day, Americans observed National Honey Bee Day, which fell on the third Saturday of August this year. Behind that coincidence sits a serious economic argument. India has quietly become the world's second-largest honey producer and third-largest exporter by value, yet it still sells largely as a bulk supplier, earns far below the global average unit value, and depends on a single market for about three-quarters of its exports. The obvious reading is that this is a small success story. The harder question is whether the 'sweet revolution' can turn scale into value without first protecting the pollinator that makes both the honey and the harvest possible.

The Story in 60 Seconds

What Happened?

On August 16, 2026, the Financial Express published 'Let's honour the busy bee' by Ashok Gulati, Suvangi Rath and Tanmoy Adhikary, respectively Distinguished Professor, Fellow and Research Assistant at ICRIER. The column appeared the day after National Honey Bee Day, which fell on August 15 this year, coinciding with India's Independence Day.

The column's central numbers: India's honey production nearly doubled over the last decade, from about 76,000 tonnes in 2013-14 to roughly 1.51 lakh tonnes in 2025-26. Almost 70% of production is exported, worth $208 million in 2025-26, and India accounts for about 8.4% of global honey exports.

The US absorbed about 76% of India's honey exports ($157.8 million) in 2025-26. When the US suddenly imposed high tariffs on Indian imports, honey exporters and farmers felt the blow, but the turnaround in diversifying export markets was swift: shipments to countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Israel have begun.

1. Tariff shock: the US, absorbing about 76% of India's honey exports, suddenly raises tariffs.
2. Exporters feel the pinch: lower competitiveness in the dominant US market hits farmers and packers.
3. Government response: export promotion, quality upgrades and brand-building are pushed as remedies.
4. Market diversification: the hope is to shift from one concentrated buyer to multiple markets.
5. Structural change: whether the sector converts this shock into lasting reform or a reprieve depends on follow-through.

The column reads the tariff shock as a classic economic lesson: trade barriers often compel resilience and innovation. But it warns that India's unit value realisation of about $1,858 per tonne remains well below the world average and far behind premium categories such as New Zealand's manuka honey.

Whether this moment becomes a structural transformation or a temporary reprieve, the authors argue, depends on reforms and investments that have not yet been committed at the required scale. They also ask whether policymakers can set a time-bound target of doubling honey bee colonies by 2030 and doubling India's share of the global market.

Understand the Basics: The Bee, the Hive and the Harvest

• What is apiculture?: Apiculture is honey bee farming, the practice of keeping bees for honey, wax and pollination services. In India it has moved from a marginal rural activity into an organised sector under initiatives such as the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission, a central scheme launched under the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme with an initial outlay of about Rs 500 crore and implemented through the National Bee Board.
• How does it work?: Beekeepers maintain hives and bees forage on crops such as mustard, apple, litchi and sunflower, collecting nectar and pollen. The farmer gains in three ways: honey and other bee products to sell, better yields from the pollination of nearby crops, and, increasingly, rental income by placing hives in orchards under pollination contracts.
• Why does it matter?: According to the FAO, pollinators contribute about 35% of global crop production by volume and enhance the yield of 87 of the 115 leading food crops. Since most of India's vegetables, fruits, oilseeds and nuts depend at least partly on insect pollination, the bee is not just an input to the honey trade; it is an input to Indian agriculture itself.

How Did We Get Here?

India's honey story is a doubling in a decade. From about 76,000 tonnes in 2013-14, production climbed to roughly 1.51 lakh tonnes by 2025-26. The government's 'Sweet Revolution' treated beekeeping as a rural livelihood programme, and the sector responded on the production side. The export side, however, grew into dependence: by 2025-26 the US took about 76% of exports by value, a concentration that looked like a strength until tariffs made it visible as risk.

1. 2013-14 India's honey production stands at about 76,000 tonnes, the base from which the sector nearly doubles.
2. 2020 Official statements place India around ninth among the world's honey exporters, before the push to scale up.
3. 2020-21 The National Beekeeping and Honey Mission is launched under Atmanirbhar Bharat with an outlay of about Rs 500 crore, implemented by the National Bee Board with the Madhukranti portal for traceability.
4. 2023-24 India ships about 1.07 lakh tonnes of honey worth $177.55 million and rises to become the world's second-largest exporter by volume.
5. 2025-26 Production reaches roughly 1.51 lakh tonnes; exports total about $208 million, with the US taking about 76% ($157.8 million).
6. August 2026 A sudden US tariff shock hits exporters; shipments begin diversifying to the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Israel.

The Economic Mechanism

The honey economy runs on a simple mechanism with an unusual twist: the farmer who keeps bees earns twice, once from the hive and once from the field. Pollination raises the yield and quality of nearby crops, so the bee's first economic contribution is invisible inside agricultural output. The honey itself is the visible product, and it is there that the market failure shows up.

India produces scale but processes little of it: most honey leaves as bulk, unbranded commodity rather than branded retail packs. A single large buyer, the United States, takes most of the value, which keeps unit prices anchored to a commodity market. Because the domestic market is small, almost 70% of production must find an overseas buyer. The result is a sector that is volume-rich and value-poor: it ranks second in production and third in export value, yet earns below the world average per tonne.

Connect the Dots

1. Production: beekeeping scale nearly doubles in a decade, from about 76,000 tonnes in 2013-14 to roughly 1.51 lakh tonnes in 2025-26.
2. Processing: most honey leaves as bulk, unbranded commodity; little value is added through processing, packaging or branding.
3. Export structure: about 70% of output is exported, worth $208 million in 2025-26, making India a volume exporter at about 8.4% of global exports.
4. Market concentration: the US takes about 76% of export value ($157.8 million), leaving the sector exposed to a single buyer and to tariff shocks.
5. Unit value: at about $1,858 per tonne, below the world average and far from premium categories, India captures less value per tonne than its scale suggests.
6. Farmer income: beekeepers and farmers bear the cost of low unit values and single-market risk; income depends on both honey sales and pollination-linked yields.
7. Policy choices: investment in testing labs, cluster processing, GI branding, farmer producer organisations and domestic demand decides whether scale turns into value.

Who Is Affected?

Key Economic Indicators

The Policy Question

What is the government trying to achieve? The stated goals are rural livelihoods through beekeeping and a larger share of the world honey market, pursued through the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission, APEDA's export support and a push toward quality and diversification.

What tools are being used? The NBHM (with its Madhukranti traceability portal) works on scientific beekeeping and production; APEDA handles export facilitation; and post-tariff, exporters are being encouraged to reach markets that value natural, sustainably sourced honey, where EU consumers pay premiums for traceable, environmentally responsible products.

Where are the trade-offs? Production growth without corresponding value growth means more volume at low unit prices. Premium-market entry requires investments in nuclear magnetic resonance-capable testing labs, cluster-based processing, GI branding for unique floral honeys such as Sundarbans and Ramban Sulai, and farmer producer organisations, all of which need time and money. Growing domestic demand requires large consumer campaigns such as 'Honey for Health', with returns that are real but slow.

The Debate

Winners & Losers

These are potential effects, not established outcomes. They depend on how policy, investment and markets evolve.

What Is Clear? What Remains Uncertain?

• What is clear and corroborated: production nearly doubled to about 1.51 lakh tonnes; about 70% of output is exported ($208 million in 2025-26); the US took about 76% of exports by value; India's unit value of about $1,858 per tonne sits below the world average; and per capita domestic consumption is only about 37 gm a year.

What remains open: whether the post-tariff diversification is durable; whether the roughly $12.7 billion bee-byproduct market becomes a real Indian opportunity; and whether policymakers will set and meet a time-bound target of doubling honey bee colonies by 2030 and doubling India's global market share. The column criticises the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision as too distant and vague to assess its seriousness.

What Could Happen Next?

• Scenario A, the premium push — Investment in NMR labs, cluster processing and GI branding for floral honeys such as Sundarbans and Ramban Sulai unlocks European, Japanese and East Asian markets and lifts unit values.
• Scenario B, back to bulk — Without quality investment, India stays a bulk supplier with low unit values and remains exposed to tariff and market swings.
• Scenario C, domestic demand grows — 'Honey for Health' consumer campaigns lift per capita consumption from about 37 gm, stabilising producer incomes and supporting premium exports.
• Scenario D, the bee is neglected — Unchecked pesticide use and unsustainable beekeeping erode the pollination base, threatening both farm yields and the honey economy itself.

Why Does It Matter for India?

For a country where agriculture supports hundreds of millions of livelihoods, pollination is a hidden input to both food security and farm incomes. The honey economy sits at the junction of rural livelihoods, exports, nutrition and climate-resilient agriculture. The column's closing challenge is direct: can policymakers prioritise the 'silent workers' that pollinate crops, and can they set measurable, time-bound targets instead of resting on a distant national vision?

CONCEPT BEHIND THE NEWS

Bottom Line

India is the world's second-largest honey producer and third-largest exporter by value, but it exports mostly bulk honey, earns below-average unit values, and sends about 76% of exports to one market. The tariff shock was a wake-up call; the diversification that followed shows resilience, but durability requires moving up the value chain through testing, traceability, branding and domestic demand. Underneath the trade story is a pollination story: protecting the bee is protecting the harvest. Scale has been achieved; value has not. That, not the next harvest number, is the real measure of whether the sweet revolution succeeds.

Key Economic Terms

• Apiculture: the practice of keeping bees for honey and other bee products
• Pollination services: the work bees do in transferring pollen, for which farmers in some markets now pay directly
• Unit value realisation: the price received per unit of export, here per tonne, a measure of the value a country captures
• GI branding: Geographical Indication tags, such as Sundarbans and Ramban Sulai honey, that protect origin and can command premiums
• FPO: Farmer Producer Organisation, a collective that improves small farmers' access to markets and inputs
• NBHM: the National Beekeeping and Honey Mission, a central scheme promoting scientific beekeeping
• NMR testing: nuclear magnetic resonance testing, used to detect honey adulteration and certify authenticity

Sources & Data

• Primary | Ashok Gulati, Suvangi Rath and Tanmoy Adhikary, "Let's honour the busy bee", The Financial Express, August 16, 2026
• Corroboration | "India's sweet revolution depends on this: Safeguard the bee...", The Indian Express, August 17, 2026
• Corroboration | "Honey Sector India: Sweet Revolution and Challenges", chetanbharat.com Current Affairs, August 18, 2026
• Corroboration | FAO, Global Action on Pollination Services for Sustainable Agriculture: key facts and figures on pollinators
• Context | "India becomes world's no.2 honey exporter", official statement reported November 2025 (National Beekeeping and Honey Mission details)