Kerala growers opt for other crops as rubber prices dip

New Delhi, April 16: FACED with declining prices and surplus production, rubber planters in Kerala are shifting to other segments like banana, pineapple and tapioca cultivation in a big way. Another lucrative segment the rubber growers are now interested is bee-keeping.

"Prices have slid to historic lows. Even government procurement has been unable to bail us out. So, left with no options, planters are going in for honey production, growing of bananas and pineapple and to some extent pepper and coconut cultivation," a rubber planter from Kottayam said.

Crops like banana, tapioca and pineapple being annuals, required relatively less investment and were good source of income when compared to the depressed rubber scenario, Stephen Mathew, a member of the Rubber Marketing Cooperative Society at Palai, said.

Honey preparation and pepper cultivation had their own set of problems. However, to get some ready cash to meet their immediate needs these alternatives were being pursued, he added.

Desperate rubber planters had opted for bee-keeping as an additional vocation in their fields, but it was fraught with risks due to certain bee diseases catching up in the area, he said.

Others had cut short their rubber trees at around 10 feet to make them suitable for pepper cultivation, as in terms of price the situation is slightly better for pepper, he added.

Those plantations in which the 20-year rubber growth cycle was over, instead of replantations, banana,tapioca or pineapple cultivation was being taken up.

Mr Mathew said some were even going in for coconut plantation despite the dismal prices for that produce, in the hope that the situation would improve by the time the palms begin to yield five to six years hence.

He said with similar expectation of the rubber prices showing a northward trend some time in future, many planters were simply not tapping rubber from the trees. As for pepper cultivation, though economically better than rubber, it was facing problems of bacterial diseases, which reduced returns, he added. (PTI)