Impact of Falling Price of Rubber- A Case Study of KothamangalamTaluk in Ernakulam District
Price: ₹ 500
Author: O.P. Ali1* and P.K. Manoj2
Author Address: 1Research Scholar, Research and Development Centre, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore-641046 (Tamil Nadu), and 2Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Economics, Cochin University of Science and Technology,University Road, South Kalamassery, Kalamass
Keywords: Economic development, livelihood, natural rubber, policy interventions, price instability.
JEL Codes: Q02, Q12, Q13.
Abstract
The rubber sector in Kerala is passing through an unprecedented crisis. Falling prices had adversely affected the production and productivity of rubber in the state. The price instability made the rubber cultivation unattractive now a day. Many farmers have stopped the cultivation switching over to other crops. This study examined the impact of falling prices on rubber cultivation. This was a pilot study conducted by the researcher as part of his research work on the rubber economy of Kerala-Presents problems and prospects’. The primary data were collected from 60 rubber growers of Nellikuzhi and Paiprapanchayath in Ernakulam district through a structured questionnaire using a random sampling technique. The results revealed that the falling price of natural rubber adversely affected the rubber production, productivity and thereby the life and livelihood of millions of cultivators in different dimensions. Farmers were reluctant to care for their plantations regularly, reduced the number of tapping days and some of them had even quitted the cultivation by switching over to other crops causing increased indebtedness and overdue in bank loans. These adverse situations necessitated both short-term solutions and long-term policy interventions including the review of import policy to bail out the sector from the crisis.
Description
Indian Journal of Economics and Development
Volume 16 No. 1, 2020, 118-124
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35716/ijed/19142
Indexed in Clarivate Analytics (ESCI) of WoS
NAAS Score: 4.82
UGC Approved: UGC Care List Group II
O.P. Ali1* and P.K. Manoj2
1Research Scholar, Research and Development Centre, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore-641046 (Tamil Nadu), and
2Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Economics, Cochin University of Science and Technology,University Road,
South Kalamassery, Kalamassery, Kochi-682022 (Kerala)
*Corresponding author’s email: opaliodamkulath@gmail.com