Rubber cultivation in Mayurbhanj district has scripted a turnaround success story by bringing a sea change in socio-economic status of the tribal residents.
Not only has this cultivation positively impacted on the life and livelihood of the tribals, but large land area which was left barren has turned green.
A small pilot project of the Government and Rubber Board which was undertaken in the year 1993 has moved a long way in combating the livelihood issue of the district in general and the tribals of small villages in particular.
Till 2013 while it was cultivated in 1,400 acres of land within three years, the plantation has spread to another 5,000 acres due to aggressive approach of the district administration with the convergence of different Government schemes giving the farmers exposure, supplementing technical knowhow and market linkage.
The present scenario is that about 4,000 tribal farmers are directly involved in the rubber farming sector.
“There is a positive impact of rubber plantation in the district. The tribals who were once only depending on the paddy cultivation or forest produce now are able to earn Rs75,000- Rs90,000 per annum from each acre,” said district Collector, Mayurbhanj Rajesh Pravakar Patil.
“The rubber plantation couldn’t progress till 2013 from 1993. But within last three years, it has picked up momentum. The rubber is non-perishable and long term sustainable cultivation is the key advantage. Besides, for the marketing of their produce linkage has been found. Discussions with a private tyre producing company, Birla tyres, have been held recently,” he said, adding the farmers were given training and exposures visit in Kerala and Tripura, which are major rubber producing States.
Sukhram Singh of Kendubadi , Jitwan Singh of Jadunathpur and Ramesh Singh of Madhupur are the farmers who have become role model in their villages to take up the cultivation , after their exposure training to other States .
“Of course, rubber plantation has proved as a boon for us. There are several Government schemes where we get free food, house and other materials yet the rubber has proved extremely lucrative. Every household belonging to the rubber cultivation has satellite antenna, TV and motor bike. Now we can afford the fees of our children if they wish to study medical, engineering or management courses,’ said tribal leader Prakash Soren.
Rubber plantation is currently pursued mainly at Jadunathpur under Badsahi Block, Kendubadi under Shamakhunta Block and Kumargadia under Morada Block. Besides plantation patches, the district has two set up two processing units.
“The programme is undertaken by the Rubber Board in association with the Integral Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and DRDA. In some patches rubber is being produced and in some others, the process of yielding has begun. A plant while takes about 7 years to yield the farmers also are doing intercropping,” said Project Manager livelihood Aryasuta Aparna Bhadra.
Environment lover Bibhudatta Das said,” By rubber plantation in 6,000 acres of land at least these patches have added to the green cover of the district.”