TEHRAN – Head of Iran’s Beekeeping Industry Expansion Support Fund (BIESF) said the fund will start the guaranteed purchase of honey and royal jelly from the beekeepers as of the next Iranian calendar year (begins on March 21, 2021) to support this industry and increase the production of royal jelly and honey.

Behzad Bankipour noted that considering the increasing demand for the mentioned products inside the country, the Beekeeping Industry Expansion Support Fund has signed an agreement with the country’s major beekeepers for the guaranteed purchase of honey and royal jelly, IRIB reported.

According to this agreement, the inputs required by beekeepers for the production of honey and royal jelly will be provided by the BIESF, and in return, the products will be produced according to the standards set by the fund.

“The final products will be purchased by the fund based on a previously agreed price,” Bankipour said.

He emphasized that this agreement is going to assure the producers of their product being sold and this will increase their motivation for increasing production, especially the royal jelly production.

Given that in previous years there was no guaranteed market for these products, beekeepers were reluctant to invest in the production of royal jelly, since the production of this product is very difficult and requires high working capital, but with the taken measures, beekeepers will definitely be more interested in producing these products, the official said.

The Beekeeping Industry Expansion Support Fund also helps to promote beekeepers' products by advertising and developing appropriate branding and marketing, according to the official.

Bankipour finally noted that the fund will purchase at least 30 percent of the beekeepers' royal jelly production, while regarding honey the guaranteed purchase will be done according to the market demand.

Iran, as one of the leading countries in the honey industry, has a long-established tradition of beekeeping and during recent years could successfully increase its annual production of honey and is now the third-largest honey producer in the world, according to Gerold Boedeker, FAO Representative to the Islamic Republic of Iran.  

Director of Iranian Agriculture Ministry’s beekeeping development plan said over 112,000 tons of honey was produced in the country during the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), about 22,000 tons more than the figure for the preceding year.

EF/MA