Around 75,000 registered rubber growers have been identified in the six districts of Karnataka, viz., Dakshina Kannda, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga, Kodagu and Chikmagalur, where the crop is substantially grown.
But nowhere in the state is a nursery set up by the Rubber Board so that the growers can buy the saplings without compromising on quality.
Currently, the main woe of the growers is that after carefully nurturing the saplings to grow as a tree which will take almost seven years, they came to know that the trees are of very poor quality as they never give milk.
“The cheating occurs because the poor grower has bought the saplings in bundles from some private nursery. At the end, all the toil of seven years and expenses will be gone with the wind pushing the grower into penury,” said Dr Baby Mathew, the president of the Rubber Producing Society (RPS) at Noojibalthila in Kadaba.
Mathew said that near to his land, a woman called Mini had to cut hundreds of rubber trees in her plantation due to its impotency, after nurturing it for long eight years. He was of the opinion that rather than concentrating on the fluctuating rubber prices which is largely depended on international market, Rubber board should focus on this vital issue.
Saji Cheriyan, a rubber grower from Kundapura too echoed similar sentiment. “At present, there are hardly any rules to comply with to start a nursery selling rubber saplings.
Umpteen numbers of nurseries are there in all areas which has got a presence of rubber cultivation. They will bring low quality saplings from far off places like Marthandam in Tamil Nadu and sell here for lesser price,” elaborated Saji.
He too says that many growers in DK, Udupi districts have suffered huge loss due to the poor quality saplings.
The growers rue that there is no so called tips while selecting saplings which can guarantee that after seven years of nurturing, it will be fit for tapping.
The Rubber Board will distribute saplings once in a year, that too less in number due to the flood of applications.
“The rubber board will have a maximum of 10,000 good saplings for distribution. The applications will be called in every October and the saplings will be distributed by December. If one applies for 500 saplings, he has to be contended with 100 only,” explains Baby Mathew. In Northern Kerala, the Board has two nurseries under its regional centers, Thalasserry and Srikantapuram.
Growers in Karnataka will somehow manage to get a few of the saplings from Kerala, but that will be too slender. Regional Rubber Growers’ Association (Mangalore) President Col N S Bhandary said that the feasible way is to go for a handful of nurseries which have got a better name among growers.
‘Allocate land’
Reacting to the issue, Rubber Board Chairperson Sheela Thomas told Deccan Herald that the Board is willing to set up a nursery in Karnataka provided the State government allocates land for the same.
“The issue of saplings is an important one for growers. But without allotment of land, we can’t proceed on the matter,” she said.
Deputy Rubber Production Commissioner (Mangalore) P Achyuthan Kutty said that the Board needs at least 10 acres of land to set up a regional level nursery which will have 4-5 lakh saplings.
He added that the proposal for the same has been sent to Karnataka government several times.