Budget fails to enthuse rubber growers

The State Budget has failed to bring cheer to natural rubber growers, who were hoping for a revision in the stabilisation price but were left with little beyond last year’s support price hike to₹200.

Presenting the Budget on Thursday, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal referred to the hike in the support price of natural rubber to ₹200, a measure implemented in October last year. He also acknowledged the adverse impact of the ASEAN agreement on the rubber sector and underlined the role of the Union government in ensuring a fair price for rubber growers.

“The agriculture sector has to be relieved from the double whammy of the ASEAN Agreement and the disturbance posed by wildlife. The most severe impact of the ASEAN Agreement has been felt in the rubber plantation sector. Since the agreement came into force, rubber farmers have never received a subsistence price. There is a situation where farmers and labourers are deserting agriculture. Soon, this will affect the tyre industry in India,” he said.

According to Mr. Balagopal, the Rubber Board, the Ministry of Commerce of the Government of India and tyre manufacturers, who wield significant influence in the rubber sector, are duty bound to ensure a fair price for farmers. “If this does not materialise, the State will be forced to implement strong and comprehensive alternative development programmes,” he added.

However, the absence of any specific announcements for the rubber sector has left growers, particularly small scale farmers, disappointed. “The failure to implement the ₹250 base price promised by the Left Democratic Front under the rubber incentive scheme, even in its final Budget, is disheartening. Under the KERA (Kerala Climate Resilient Agri-Value Chain Modernisation scheme), assistance for replanting is limited to just six districts, and the promise to extend the scheme to other districts has also not been fulfilled,” said Babu Joseph, General Secretary of the National Federation of Rubber Producers’ Organisations.

He pointed out that the cost of production of rubber already exceeds ₹200, making the revision of the base price to ₹200 ineffective in triggering any meaningful revival in the sector.

Former Rubber Board member N. Hari also described the Budget as a letdown for rubber growers.

Meanwhile, the Budget has made provisions for labour welfare in the plantation sector, allocating ₹5 crore for welfare measures and an additional ₹10 crore under the scheme for the construction of new accommodation and the renovation of existing houses for labourers.