If loan payments are fixed, why isn’t the price of our honey?

Most people in my village of Dhurkuda, including me, practise beekeeping.

When self-help groups (SHGs) were first set up here under the National Rural Livelihoods Misson (NRLM), we joined them. In these groups, we were strongly encouraged to become self-employed, so I considered taking up beekeeping. The NRLM also provided training for this, which gave us confidence.

I took loans from the SHG to set up my enterprise—the first loan was for INR 50,000, and the second was for INR 1 lakh. Then, in 2023, a woman from my village, Ramkatori Dhakad, and I took a joint loan for INR 6 lakh. We have been running a beekeeping enterprise together for the past three–four years. At present, both of us have a debt of INR 3 lakh each.

Initially, our work was going well. In our first year of selling honey, we earned INR 150 per kilo. However, problems soon emerged. The demand for honey was declining year on year, and we began accumulating buckets of unsold honey. One bucket holds 30–35 kilos. In 2025, we had a total of 170 buckets of honey, out of which 90 had been collected the same year and 80 were from the year before. We were forced to sell them at almost half the price—at INR 80 per kilo. We did not have the option to hold on to the honey we had collected for long because we needed money to pay the loan instalments.

The biggest challenge we face is not finding buyers, which is why many people in our area are now stepping away from beekeeping. Recently, when the situation worsened, many of us who are engaged in beekeeping began raising our voices. We held meetings with NRLM officials, and buying gradually resumed.

In the past two years, we have had to spend INR 4 lakh, but we have barely had any income. If we could sell honey at the rate of INR 150 per kilo, we would be able to pay off our bank loans. We have been driven to a point where we are considering selling off our bees.

When we met with NRLM officials to raise this issue, they told us to filter the honey, package it in half and 1 kilo packets, acquire a GST number, get ourselves registered, and, when there was demand, sell our honey along with a bill.

It is not possible for us to do all this. Neither do we have the resources at our disposal, nor the money needed to buy machines for packaging and marketing. We also collect honey in large volumes; how are we supposed to sell all of it ourselves?

Our only demand is that we get fair rates for our honey and that payments be made on time, so our hard work does not go to waste.

Anita Dhakad is a resident of Dhurkuda village, where she is engaged in beekeeping.

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Know more: Learn about the traditional honey hunting and harvesting practised by the Khiamniungan tribe in Nagaland.