Skip to main content

Kerala natural rubber producers 'squeezed', attend to their plight: Govt of India told

By Rosamma Thomas  

Babu Joseph, general secretary of the National Federation of Rubber Producers Societies (NFRPS) at a recent discussion at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, explained that it is high time the Union government paid greater heed to the troubles plaguing the rubber production sector in India – rubber is a strategic product, important for the military establishment and for industry, since natural rubber is still used in the manufacture of tyres for large vehicles and aeroplanes.
Synthetic rubber is now quite widespread, but styrene, which is used in making synthetic rubber and plastics, and also butadiene, another major constituent of synthetic rubber, are both hazardous. Prolonged exposure to these even in recycled rubber can cause neurological damage. Kerala produces the bulk of India’s natural rubber. In 2019-20, Kerala’s share in the national production of rubber was over 74%. Over 20% of the gross cropped area in the state is under rubber cultivation, with total land area cultivation of rubber second only to coconut.
Since rubber is a cash crop that falls under the purview of the commerce ministry of the Union government, it is not regulated by the state agriculture department. In 1963, the Kerala Land Reforms Act of the EMS Namboodiripad government imposed a ceiling of 15 acres on the possession of agricultural land; plantations were exempted, because it was understood that involves not just more capital but also a high volume of labour, and was under the purview of the Union government.
Addressing an audience of mostly young students, Babu Joseph explained that tyre manufacturers have been making profits; these profits flow, in part, from squeezing the producers, who are relatively small farmers with little power for collective bargaining – also, more recent changes in the Rubber Board have made the producers weaker. Niti Aayog had earlier recommended that the Board be abolished, but was faced with stiff resistance as the livelihoods of nearly 13 lakh cultivators in the state are tied to the functioning of the Board.
Babu Joseph of NFRPS said the Rubber Board was constituted under the Rubber Act, 1947, for the overall development of the country’s rubber industry. In the years after independence, amendments were made to the act in favour of farmers.
However, the Rubber (Promotion and Development) Bill, 2022, was introduced to repeal the Rubber Act of 1947 and reorient the Rubber Board. The board’s composition would be changed, and farmers were to get less representation. Provisions of the Act that required the Union government to consult the Rubber Board ahead of issuing policy directives were also to be done away with. 
The Rubber Board has played a crucial advisory role since independence, and this role would have ceased to exist. The changes would make it possible for the Union government to control the industry. There would be Constitutional implications to bringing rubber estates under Central government control; the cap on rubber prices would benefit industry, while there was no provision in the proposed law for the government to buy rubber in case price fell.
Although this Bill has not passed, what Babu Joseph presented at Kottayam made clear that the Rubber Board has already been undermined, and that rubber growers now face a squeeze, with prices of their produce falling and not enough support from government – a rubber plant takes about seven years to mature so tapping can begin, and rubber plants can be tapped over about 35 years. In that period, it is not possible to grow other crops in the plantation, so long-term planning is necessary to support these growers.
The Rubber Board’s budget has seen steady decline, from Rs 208 crore in 2014 to Rs 146 crore in 2018-19. Wages have plunged, and changes introduced since the 2017 introduction of the Goods and Services Tax has meant that the Board can no longer collect cess. While in 2019, there were 1,649 staff members on the Rubber Board, by 2023, it reduced to 905.
Rubber imports are on the rise at a time when local producers are hit hard, unable to work at full capacity
The state government has in the past offered a subsidy for planting and other stages of the cultivation of rubber; even this support has shrunk in recent years. Field officers who earlier engaged with the planters have now been transferred in large numbers to the northeastern states, where too rubber has begun to be cultivated.
Productivity of plantations in Kerala has seen high growth, Babu Joseph said, from 200 kg per hectare at the time of independence to 1800 kg per hectare in recent years. Yet, rubber imports are on the rise, at a time when local producers are hit hard and unable to work at full capacity.
Climate change too has hit rubber producers – tapping is usually in the time when there are no rains; with unpredictable weather and longer spells of rain, the number of days when rubber can be tapped has shrunk. The trees also shed more leaves with the intensity of the rain, and the number of weeds too is higher. 
While rubber prices have declined, farmers spend more on pesticides and fertilizer than before. Rain guards, needed for the trees, are also more expensive. In such conditions, it is hard for the growers to offer regular work and security to the over four lakh workers engaged in this sector in the state.
The corporate social responsibility funds that many of the tyre companies are meant to set aside for social spending is spent instead on securing their own profits, often by starting their own plantations in the northeast, Babu Joseph said.
After the discussions were open to the audience, it was disappointing to note that the concerns of the audience were mostly about the need to get young people interested in rubber growing – one teacher of economics wondered if students would stop pursuing higher education abroad and opt for a course in rubber cultivation at a university in Kerala instead. 
That narrow professionalism is itself a problem was obvious – Babu Joseph of NFRPS said he was seeking an MBA graduate to help with work, but found that few young people showed any interest, given that the Rs 30,000 per month salary was not seen as attractive, and the job of chasing for permissions and licences etc. was something that such graduates are often not equipped to perform. 
Why, one might wonder, should a university offer a course in rubber production? Not too many of the planters currently engaged in the cultivation of this cash crop have educational qualifications in the sector. If indeed all jobs required such specialized training, what career options might a University scholar of philosophy, pure physics or literature be left with?

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Sections of BSF, BGB personnel 'directly or indirectly' involved in cross border smuggling

By Kirity Roy*  The Border Security Force (BSF) of India and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) of Bangladesh met for 54th Director General level meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5th to 9th March, 2024 to discuss on minimizing killings at border area, illegal intrusion, trafficking of drugs and other narcotics, smuggling of arms and ammunitions and other crimes at bordering areas. Further, the summit had an agenda to discuss on overall development in 150 yards area at both sides of the border and design an activity plan for the same.