Kerala moves to resolve rubber planters' woes

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Thursday said he has directed two state marketing agencies to procure rubber from the open market following the sharp fall in prices in the international market.

The price fall has had a deep impact on farmers in the state which is India's largest rubber producer.

"We have been pursuing this issue with the centre for a while and things went haywire after the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha polls was imposed. Yesterday (Wednesday), we have had a series of meetings and we have asked two state agencies to start procurement" from the open market at Rs.5 above the day's market price, Chandy told IANS.

"We know that this will only be a small relief. But with this intervention, we will be able to stop the price of rubber from falling further. Cooperative banks have been asked to fund these two agencies and the state government will bear the interest cost of the procurement," he said.

Kerala produces 90 percent of the country's rubber. At the moment the market price of rubber is Rs.138 per kg. This is the lowest since 2009 when it stood at Rs.99.50 per kg. In 2010, the rubber price was Rs.160, in 2011 Rs 233.50, in 2012 Rs 194.50 and last year Rs 158 per kg.

Jacob Mathen, a rubber farmer in Kottayam district, said: "I have an acre of land and it was in 2009 that I started to tap my rubber trees. And till 2012, things were fine as prices had jumped from Rs.99 in 2009 to Rs.230 but from 2012 they have been falling."

"Our family budget has gone haywire as I have taken educational loans for my children. Till the end of 2012, the repayment was perfect but now it is not and we are all worried," said Mathen.

Sreekumaran Nair, who supervises a rubber plantation in Pathanamthitta district, said: "Fertilizer prices have doubled in the past five years and the tapping charges have also gone up but rubber prices have fallen."