Experts discussing ways to revive the sagging fortunes of Kerala’s plantation sector have suggested use of genetically modified (GM) plants to help the rubber sector at the Kerala Plantation Expo held in Kochi.
A Rubber Board scientist spoke of the need for GM rubber varieties to suit new-age demands and called for diversified inter-crops to boost income and add to biodiversity.
Rubber Board officials said GM plants had a great future and could be the answer to increasing yields in the face of drastic climatic variations. The State government has denied permission for trial runs in the State. But a field trial, under stringent conditions prescribed by the government, is on in Assam, where an acre is under GM rubber plants on Rubber Board land. These plants have been tweaked to increase their capacity to withstand severe weather conditions.
Another field trial is about to begin in Tripura from the next planting season. Plants had been modified to withstand unfavourable weather conditions and to resist pest attacks, Rubber Board sources added.
The United Planters Association of South India called for imports to be structured and pointed out that Kerala’s production of rubber had slipped to six lakh tonnes against eight lakh in 2013. The crop has become unremunerative over the years but farmers must be encouraged to ‘Grow in India’ just as the government is calling for ‘Make in India’.
Drastic changes in climatic conditions, more clearly evident since the floods of August 2018, have also prompted experts at the expo to call for urgent steps to sustain the State’s natural suitability for plantation.
Ashutosh Sarkar of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, recalled that the plantation sector was a revenue-earner and job-generator for Kerala before it began facing a difficult phase over the past decade. Planters should be able to go for their choice of crops, he said at the expo.
