Fall in rubber output, through fever and leaf-fungus disease, is feared to be as heavy as 50%, according to a survey report by Rubber Board. Earlier, this was estimated to be about 30%.
It is on the Kottayam and Pattanamtitta districts, where the fever was focussed that the production was below 50%. In Kollam district, the leaf-fungus disease causing shrinkage of latex yield, was also the culprit. In North Kerala plantations, the impact of fever is relatively minimal.
?But then, Kottayam district is country?s staple latex bowl. Besides the commercial impact in shortage in domestic market, this could also cause an economic depression in the central Kerala belt in the high-spending Onam season,? a Board spokesperson told FE.
The Board had entrusted 265 field officers at 2,500 plantations to study the ground impact of fever. The survey was from April to June. In May-June in 2006, the production was 50,000 tonne. Going by the survey, in the corresponding period in 2007, the production should have fallen to 25,000 tonne.
Harshness of the monsoon too was a factor. Even after the Board had – through rubber producing societies- organised rain guards for the estates in Meenachil and Kanjirapilly, the tapping is yet to pick up.
Apart from labour-shortage, small estates running on family labour are also idling because of the fever recurring twice and thrice in the same areas.
There are also apprehensions among the small growers that lack of income in the last two months would snowball to shortage of working capital for buying the critical farm inputs in the coming months.
The Rubber Board top brass are yet to discuss the portents of the survey report in detail.