Monaragala: Next hotspot for rubber?

6 January 2016 02:53 am - 0 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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A Rs.2 billion UN-funded 5,000-acre rubber plantation project in Monaragala has just entered commercial production, the Colombo Rubber Traders Association (CRTA) said.

“Planting for this project started in 2008, and all the trees are high yielding clones. Smallholders have all settled there, and they are doing very well. In the current scenario of low production and low prices, this is the only success story in the rubber industry,” CRTA Chairman M. S. Rahim said.
In a recent fact finding visit, which the Plantation Industries Minister Naveen Dissanayake failed to attend, the CRTA team has found the project to be impressive.

Sources say that the project has not been given widespread attention due to it starting during the rule of the past regime, and some businesses are attempting to use the lack of attention to purchase rubber directly at lower prices, instead of allowing the produce to go to the auction.

Monaragala is a new area for rubber planting. The forecast for minimum raw rubber production from the project is expected to be 773 metric tonnes in 2016, gradually increasing to 4,960 metric tonnes in 2023 as the trees reach maturity.

Rahim said that the clones will continue to yield over 1 metric tonne per hectare annually, compared to 750 kilogrammes annually of the old, unadulterated trees in traditional growing areas.

“In other areas, smallholders are neglecting their plantations and cutting down trees for firewood. No one wants to plant and wait for 8 years to get a return. It’s mostly the Regional Plantations Companies that replant their rubber at around 3 percent annually,” Rahim said.

He added that over 56 percent of the rubber trees in the country are over 30 years of age, with nearly 30 percent over 35 years of age now. The lifespan of a productive tree is 35 years.

“With this project, we will have enough rubber for local tyre production. Why import rubber or tyres? Start another factory here,” Rahim added.

With the current global crash in rubber prices, Sri Lankan businesses are importing better quality RSS 3, 4 and 5 grade rubber at Rs.165 per kilogramme from Thailand and Vietnam, while the same grade rubber produced by the smallholders are sold at the auction at around Rs. 215-220.

While the project comes under the government’s Smallholder Plantations Entrepreneurship (SPEnDP) Development Programme and the Ministry of Plantation Industries acts as the regulator, the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development contributed Rs. 1.79 billion for the project.

The total investment of the project is Rs.2 billion, with the government investing Rs.109 million, and another Rs.110 million coming from other sources.
The project supports 9,514 farmers, of which 2,450 are female. The project has seen the planting of over 2.6 million rubber trees.

The project also consists of a livelihood development programme, where the smallholders are registered with Rubber Development Societies, and helps the farmers apply for the 9 percent loan under SPEnDP.

Farmers are also provided training, assistance and entrepreneurship advice on a wide variety of industries such as value added products, livestock, garments, carpentry, baking and hairdressing, while the project will also establish sales centres and obtain higher prices for the farmers’ produce.

Large scale commercial intercropping in the project includes 624 hectares of cocoa plantations, 199 hectares of orange plantations, 68 hectares of home garden plantations, and 8.5 hectares of medicinal herb plantations. (CW)

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Monaragala: Next hotspot for rubber?

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