At a time when the price of natural rubber declined drastically a few years ago, many a farmer in Wayanad district shifted to more profitable crops such as robusta coffee and black pepper after uprooting rubber trees.
However, Roymon Kavalakkat, an innovative farmer at Pulpally, shifted to mixed crop cultivation with rubber and Roys Selection Coffee, a hybrid variety of arabica coffee developed by himself.
The 47-year-old farmer started the intercropping method on his 10-acre property without uprooting any rubber trees. Though many farmers watched the way of cultivation with doubts, Mr. Roy proved it a great success. Now, others are following the mixed cultivation across the State from Marthandom to Wayanad and various parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The State government has now honoured him with the Karshakothama Award, a first-time achievement for a farmer in Wayanad district, a region known for coffee and spices.
He discovered his new variety of coffee plants from his family plantation in Tamil Nadu. Later, Mr. Roy selected the coffee variety as an intercrop in his rubber plantation at Pulpally and christened it Roys Selection Coffee.
This is a coffee plant that grows on its main root, while conventional coffee plants grow mainly on fibrous roots or lateral roots, says Mr. Roy.
They thrive in shady places and give good yields compared to conventional coffee varieties. As a shade plant, it does not require much irrigation. Growing among rubber trees, the cost of clearing the undergrowth can also be added to the profit, Mr. Roy said .
According to the method, nearly 1,800 coffee seedlings can be planted on an acre. Coffee seedlings are planted four feet away from the rubber trees. He said they are grown at a height of two-and-a-half feet.
The farmer gets an average of around 1,500 to 1,800 kg of coffee beans from an acre of land a year. As Roys Selection Coffee belongs to the arabica genre, it fetches a better price compared to robusta coffee varieties, he said.
Moreover, an extra income can be earned from the rubber, and the tree can be used as a supporting tree to plant black pepper, he said.
