Planters now -
A Rather vanishing Breed - Many
family owned estates are fighting for the end of their era as the new generation
planters or Agri business faces problem of a different kind -
The Year 1975 -1985 was a decade of major investments into plantations
looked upon as a prospective long term investments.
Enter the family inherited gentry of planters as young men by 1995 -2005
a time when they came out with a great zeal as the streak of planting was
passed down through their ancestors.
The Decade of 2005 -2015
In a span of just a decade the interest in planting by the younger
generation who inherited large or medium estates are dwindling, there are a few
reasons for this change in Attitude.-
To be a producer than a consumer is what makes any person
enter into farming which becomes a plantation in its fullest potential, this is
a choice between the new generation whether to sit on the inherited priceless
land with what they make as we call easy money ,or re invest and nurture it to
its optimum potential. It is in fact a reflection of many lives around us
including me who did not value our inherited land.
As of 2016 December 20Th January the
prices per kilo of rubber is as low as 97.00 Rs/ Kgs which will call owners for
a closure of its major tapping areas.
You will never be the same after the storms of the
life; You will be stronger, wiser and more alive than ever before”
-Bryant Mcgill
The Woes
of the planters.
Of trade
cycles, and the global nature of commodity prices
P.K. Kuruvilla
One of my vivid memories from
the mid-1960s is that of my father's sister and her husband, solid middle
class in Kerala's Central Travancore region, living in an old house with a
granary to store paddy. Paddy cultivation was very much a way of life then.
Yet, it was a one-acre rubber plantation that kept the family afloat and
comfortable. Curious that though I never had anything to do with rubber
cultivation (and am today a medical doctor in a major hospital in Central
Travancore), I remember that the price of rubber kept hovering around Rs. 15 a
kg then. I do not know for sure what that translates to now. That was plenty
for the times, I should imagine.
Yes, the west coast of India and
some of the other parts of South East Asia have beckoned the enterprising from
Arabia and Europe. Vasco da Gama landed on the shores of Malabar some five
centuries ago, and we have it on record that some Arab dhows guided the
last leg of his journey from Mozambique. The Portuguese made ' whopping
profits from the trade of spices. So much so that one of their cathedrals was
named the "Pepper Abbey," alluding to the source of its funding. The
Dutch fought bloody wars over the control of nutmeg production in Indonesia.
The cultivation of spices has always been dicey, a lucky dip as it were. In the
past 20 years or so, rubber cultivation, too, has followed suit.
Rubber growers, at least a,
million of them in Kerala alone,
today face difficult times yet again after prices of
natural rubber fell over 50per cent in just three years. The steep fall in
prices has led to a growing clamour. They demand that higher import duty on
rubber, raw or finished, be imposed, During the last fiscal, domestic rubber
production was 8.44 tonnes, and the demand 9.77 lakh tonnes. Against this, 3.24
lakh tonnes was imported. This could be due to the fact that domestic tyre
manufacturers are going in for imports, given the low prices in the
international market. The State government has declared that it would procure
rubber at a support price that is Rs. 5 more than the market price, although
this is yet to happen. There is also some brainstorming going on about
rubberizing roads. Some experts aver that even if the rubber content in
rubberized bitumen is only 2 per cent, if 10 per cent of roads in Kerala use
the approach, the annual aggregate additional demand would be 60 lakh kg, and
manifold if the entire country adopts it.
All the same, one has to be
prepared for the vicissitudes in the future and history points to this trend. A
narrative from Somerset Maugham, set in the Malaya in the 1920s (Short Story:
'Foot Prints in the Jungle') is a case in point. He went on to say while
describing a slump I rubber prices, "Rubber had taken a toss and a lot of
fellows had lost their jobs ... In those days planters were even worse
paid than they are now and a man had to be lucky to put something away for a
rainy day ... They all go there [Singapore] when there is a slump, you know. It
is awful then, I have seen it; I have known planters sleeping in the road
because they hadn't the price of a night's lodging. I've known them to stop
strangers outside Europe and ask for a dollar to get a meal." This
anecdote from the master storyteller is ' worth recalling in this difficult
time. And mind you, he was talking about the plight of Englishmen at a time
when Britannia ruled the waves. On the other hand, we have also heard of the
violent euphoria when Brazilian planters hit the jackpot as prices sky-rocketed.
It was said (source: National Geographic) that they used to light up their
cigarettes with dollar notes!
All this goes to highlight the
nature of trade cycles, and the very global nature of the prices of most
commodities. I know it is all very well for me to pontificate, but it is going
to be a rocky road ahead and very prudent planning and planting will be vital
in the years to come.
Courtesy
-The Hindu Newspaper December 2014
We don’t have to seek new economic systems. we have to transform the
people who run them
-Sadguru
Development
has to result in jobs.
Many countries have become rich in an economic sense while remaining poor in a social sense.
Development should be on everyone’s agenda.
Many countries have become rich in an economic sense while remaining poor in a social sense.
Development should be on everyone’s agenda.
Two dangers.
Terrorism
and Climate Change.
India can be a role model: for the rest of the world.
India should no longer be bracketed with the least developed.
Together We Can.
India can be a role model: for the rest of the world.
India should no longer be bracketed with the least developed.
Together We Can.
Brilliant
speech by the PM at the Economic Times - Global Business Summit 2014
A few of their concerns are pointed
out for consideration..
1-One of my other observation is that, Planting on
large scale is a culture inherited with its Unique management policies of each
Family altogether and “once a planter
always a planter "where we had so many hands at his command to execute
orders there is a slight streak of feudality in the deepest part of the
planting culture, which today is difficult an affair with lack of hands and the better job threw open as an emerging middle class offer more work on
contract work due to the busy lifestyle which is catching up rapidly among
every class of people. We have to break
the mental barrier to get direct access to the call of the day.
2- The lack of determination to stay rooted to our land as
too much distraction of the modern world of comforts hinders to kindle a love
for the land, hard-earned by our ancestors. The
Price cycles of ups and downs are always the part of any industry but on the
global import-export policies affect the countries with the high costs of
production.
3-In adequate
labour who are skilled yet not willing to continue into the plantation job as over the
years, the next generations of plantation labour born by the mid-1990s got educated and flew off to other
destinations lured by better job opportunities .Immigrant labour from North
East is the only source to keep it going.
4- Misinterpretation of century old lease terms, tenure, for renewal,
revenue - forest land disputes as plantations on lease succumbing to loss of
right through Judiciary on wrong information .Periodical bills and Acts amended
and enacted through legislations favouring Political gains. In many cases
Justice is denied or a mirage.. Perpetual lease lands, Assignable lands ,
vesting and holding land are all being misinterpret by various department .
5- The Government should understand that Land was leased out following
the boom in the aftermath following the great demand of commodity demand in
Europe in 1860 to European adventurers to attract new investment as we opened
our shores to new crops favourable to our land because they had the will and
expertise also the marketing skills to take it globally. , our rulers gave them
incentives, it is like today's export promotion zones or it parks to promote
exports , in those time we asked the investor to take land for lease for a
small sum as huge money was needed for harnessing labour and opening up roads
and drains procuring tools and clear felling and etc .In fact I personally have
read that each cooli was given substantial advances for clearing the debts in
Tamilnadu or Karnataka -his or hers village to be given consent by the village
head to leave the land to Kannan Devan Hills of Periyar which was substantial
amounts at that time .
Today by being bringing the matter to uncertainty the policy makers
through amendments to acts are not harming any Colonial land owners but an
Indian who invested in our state who patiently built his estate over two
generations in the last 50 years.
6-The high input cost - and realization of raw material produced such as
rubber. We need more manufacturers
within each area producing raw materials through small and well managed medium
units - Entrepreneurship need proper support, Cooperatives need strong support
and proper management .No political parties should control it, instead
qualified persons and Local knowledge is the cornerstones of it.
These may be tried models but we need to reassert and try again .Only a
dedicated team can do it..Don’t think that it is hard to motive the young to
involve and dedicate
7- Plantation Tourism is one of the Major Examples needing Clarity which
should be well advocated to promote quality Accommodation of restored or
maintained properties in estates unused now which is a very highly futuristic
venture.. we need at least 20% of the toatal land held to holistically promote
the trues flavour of the land with 10 % for building with nature friendly
materials with a building code adapting the regions etos and topography .The
rest for making its surrounding nature more accesable and guest friendly Now
only 10% is allowed .
Need Clarity for rules and regulations, more imaginative nature friendly
project to be cleared and licensed.
8-The Import of rubber on the global ques have held the price low for
over a year and here to stay low as experts point out .So investment into
rubber other than young plant up keep is minimalised and many tapping area are
layed off .
Here I quote J R.D Tata's words -To be a Leader you
have to suppress yourself, at times it is painful …but we should win their
hearts and lead them so that everyone is winner. We have to educate the
labourers that they are empowered to serve the nation as all of us, though any
foreign exchange earning industries rather than being caught up in the the bottleneck of mono enterprises which boom in and die out in a short span..a
become socially responsible with the management offering due welfare and even
incentive management policies.
Once a Cooli (Labour - term used up to the 1970s) told a
missionary "My master is a beast, but a Just Beast
"If
you want to walk fast, walk alone.
But if you want to walk far...walk together - Ratan Tata"
But if you want to walk far...walk together - Ratan Tata"
"But
the question in front of us is that who will be with us to walk along us …the
laborers are walking away ….How will be make them stay beside us ."
India rubber -Fact and figures 2012-2016
The year 2010-11 Rubber produced- 8, 61,950 metric tonnes
Year 2011-12 Rubber produced -9,03,700 MT
Year
2012- 13: Rubber produced- 9, 13, 700
Metric tonnes
The year 2013-14: 7, 74,000 metric tonnes
Year
2014 -15 Rubber produced 6,45,000 MT
Less Shift 12%
Year
2015-16 rubber produced 5, 85,000 MT
Less
shift 11%
-----------------------------------------------------
Rubber area under cultivation in kerala
Year
2012 -13: 5, 39,565 hectares
Year
2013-14: 5, 48,225 hectares
SHIFT- Plus 1.60%
Year
2014-15: 5, 50,000 hectares which makes
Kerala 70% of the total share in India
Shift
–Plus 0.3%
Total
Rubber Growers in Kerala 10, 50,000.
The highest
price of Indian Rubber was 268 Rupees a Kilo on 28Th August 2010 exactly 100
years after the first rubber price boom in 1910 and the highest in 2012 it was 240 Rs which stood at a price
equivalent to today’s Rs 500 on severe shortage on high demand.
By 2015 prices
have plummeted as low as 97 Rs so rubber plantation for the first time in 50
years in moving into a loss-making industry.
World Rubber Production shift
+ or -
1-Country –Thailand
2012-
13 RUBBER PRODUCED - 41, 70000 metric tonnes + 9.6%
2013-14
RUBBER PRODUCED - 43, 23000 MT
2-Country Indonesia
2012-
13 RUBBER PRODUCED - 32, 73000 - 10.3%
2013-14
RUBBER PRODUCED 31, 53000 MT
3-Country Vietnam
2012-
13 RUBBER PRODUCED - 9, 47000 MT +9.9 %
2013-14 RUBBER PRODUCED 9, 54000 MT
4-Country CHINA
2012-
13 RUBBER PRODUCED -8, 65000 MT - 1% 2013-14
RUBBER PRODUCED 8, 57000 MT
5- Country Malaysia
2012-
13 RUBBER PRODUCED- 8, 26000 MT -
19.1%
2013-14 RUBBER PRODUCED - 6, 69000 MT
6- Country India
2012- 13
RUBBER PRODUCED-7, 96000 MT -11.2 %
2013-14 RUBBER PRODUCED-7, 05000 MT
Total Area of Rubber under
cultivation in India is 7, 95,000 hectres (one hectre is (2.471ares) =19,
64,445 acres.
Total rubber growers 12, 90000.
Growers with 25 acres -100 acres is 537 . Large plantations are at 400 having
70,000 hectares or 1, 69190 acres. Kerala has 10, 50,000 growers where 70 % are
small growers.
Average National Rubber
production per hectare is 1443 Kgs per hectre or 585 per acre.
"
''
Readdressing Change and Passion - The New Invisible Hand of Profit"
So I thought about a few thing
and though about sharing the "Penny wise and Pound foolish"
attitude when we try to diversify and value add. Planters believe in doing
things on a grand scale , it is in the culture , but when family owned
plantations try to value add or
diversify an unrealistic investment is always seen -which fail to realize full
potential profit and even after offering high quality products . There is still not a real diversification
that has happened in the plantation sector, one of the main reason being the
clarity of rules and regulation.
The main issue relating to diversification and
value addition is the lack of knowledge of the fundamentals of any industry in
tune with nature of its operation, for example plantation Tourism which I am
more experienced with..The main emphasis to offer a stay at an estate Bungalow
is to recreate an experience with great hosting , restoration of the property
in tune with its past glory offering the
laid back atmosphere of a planters routine … This will help seeks the
guest with great curiosity and finally leave with a sense of
satisfaction, were many plantation
stays operate them as a rental or they
build unimaginative resorts without a theme reflecting the ethos of the land
& destroy its culture and nature which finally loose all its charm. I am in the opinion that
Planters should try ventures relating to farm Tourism where their knowledge
about land and its farming practices applied in various innovative ways will
definitely become unique selling products.
It is a matter of the right team, at play …for example the Trio of
Congreve, Windle and Marsh who were the most successful in Nilgiris and
Anamallais were a fine example .Capt E.G Windle was good at Company affairs and
represented the trio for officialdom and fetched the best price for their
produces, Marsh was born planter who live with his labour to open up, Congreve
was a systematic man with costing and productive inputs on analyzing day to day
affairs..They worked out a fortune.
At this point of time a new trend we find the newly emerged wealthy
business houses with diverse interest emerging as investors by buying medium to
large Family owned estates since they have the Backing of sound financial
support to take up value addition and diversification. They are more
socialistic in their approach and, if we can join hands with them, exchange
your expertise on a mutually beneficial proposition.
But all the planters who are firm and innovative and re invest into the
plantations on a systematic manner remain as a remunerative bunch..I know a
very big lot of local planters with a passion..They endure the changing times..
We have to produce more food crops and marketed through outlets in proximity -
From Farm to the Table with a fair price benefitting both ends.. One of the
Major investment area I found ideal is the Poly House cultivation of Green
Vegetables, and short fruit crops particularly many states having vegetable
shortage and non organic ones preferred all over by many health conscious
travelers, the estate can supply directly to hotel and resorts at a slightly
higher price were it can be easily realize good price on the menu.
Planters in Kerala should go in for Food crops in a major way, ably
subsidized by Government and also encourage Dairy in possible areas being a
state having severe shortage for milk.
All Subsidies to be distributed through a body comprising of prominent
entrepreneurs as Patrons and advisers with powers resting on both Government
Officials and Private Entrepreneurs under periodic audit of a Nodal Agency
also.
I am of the
opinion that any industry harming nature without proper rules and regulation
need be stopped, No Government land be ever permitted to be encroached, at the
same time leased land over 50-100 years for propagation of cash crops should be
continued, but be given instruction to be nature friendly and socially
responsible to the very extend they can. Not even a single acre of forest is
ever opened for Plantations in future as forest wealth is priceless to counter
any natural disasters for the future.
““Tread the adventurous path of entrepreneurship”
Former K M Mani Finance Minister Kerala State at TieCon Kerala 2014
Valedictory address.
Let us Sit around the
table and formulate a creative , Futuristic and sustainable program for
entrepreneurship with the promises being
kept by the government - implemented to reap its initial harvests say 5 Years
from now .An adventurous Entrepreneurship led by the brave 2020 !!
Are we Ready ….Will the
policy maker stand by us …
