Sindhudurg, in the Sahyadri Hills, is gaining popularity as the next destination for rubber cultivation, with as many as 3,000 Kerala-based planters moving into the district.

This is despite the Maharashtra government discouraging planting of rubber and terming it an “exotic” crop, concerned about its impact on the district’s natural vegetation.

Sindhudurg, which shares borders with Goa and Karnataka, is about 500 km from Mumbai by road.

Till the late 1990s, rubber plantations were confined to Goa, but they then started moving into the Konkan region.

“An analysis of the 10th and 11th Five Year Plan periods reveals accelerated growth of rubber plantations in Maharashtra, especially in Dodamarg and Sawantwadi taluks of Sindhudurg district,” a Rubber Board official told BusinessLine.

“For rubber, Sindhudurg is a non-traditional area for cultivation, but in recent years many Kerala-based planters have been buying land pieces of about 5-10 acres. There are a handful of large planters with more than 2,000 acres,” said Alex K Babu, Chief Investment Officer at Kochi-based Baby Marine Ventures group.

“Land cost in Kerala is relatively high, while the land in Sindhudurg is fertile and the topography is similar to the southern State,” he added.

The group has about 2,000 acres under rubber plantation in the district. Kerala-based Muthoot Group too has a similar acerage in the district.

Kerala accounts for 68 per cent of planted area and 78 per cent of rubber production. Tripura (7.8 per cent) and Karnataka 5.2 per cent) lag far behind.

“Land ownerships and titles in Kerala are not clear. Government commissions have identified about 5-lakh acres with title disputes, and there is no set policy for rubber plantations,” said C Vinayaraghavan, former president of the Association of Planters of Kerala (APK).

With a production of 691,000 tonnes in 2016-17, India is the sixth-largest producer of natural rubber (NR); it also ranks second in NR consumption. The country has 843,000 ha under rubber; around 70 per cent of the area is under yielding stage, according to Rubber Board (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) data.

Labour costs

Another reason for rubber planters looking beyond Kerala is the labour cost, according to APK Secretary Ajith BK.

“In Kerala, a rubber tapper gets ₹600 as daily wages; in Tripura it is about ₹120, and in Maharashtra it is ₹200 per day. The per-kg cultivation cost of rubber in Kerala is ₹160; elsewhere, it is about ₹60 per kg. In Kerala, there are additional costs such as the State agriculture income tax, which other States don’t levy,” Ajith added.

NR production in Sindhudurga is 200 mt, against 5.80-lakh mt in Kerala.

The Sindhudurg district administration, howerver, is not excited. “The Maharashtra government has no scheme to promote rubber in Sindhudurg. The administration discourages rubber plantations, and instead promotes spices, which are more suited to the local agro-climatic conditions,” an official said.