Delivering the keynote address in a function held at Rubber Board Head Office, Kottayam to honour rubber growers who tap their own rubber trees, Dr KN Raghavan IRS, Chairman and Executive Director, Rubber Board, said that self-tapping along with low-frequency tapping would reduce the cost of production and make rubber cultivation more profitable.
The average holding size of the small rubber grower is only 0.57 ha. Self-tapping is desirable to get maximum profit from the smallholdings. Dr Raghavan added the adoption of low-frequency tapping would help them find extra time for other jobs.
He also distributed citation and tapping kit to the best self-tapping owners selected under the Field Stations of Regional Office, Changanassery.
The programme was conducted as a culmination of the board's yearlong campaign to promote self-tapping and low-frequency tapping among rubber growers. The Rubber Board has selected 111 self-tapping owners under the Field Stations of various Regional Offices of the Board across Kerala. Similar meetings were also conducted under these offices to honour the best self-tapping growers in their respective regions.
Sucy Roy (Kattampak, Pongamthanam), KG Balakrishna Pillai (Keezholickal, Kuriyannoor), TT Jayappan (Thonnamkuzhiyil, Arunoottimangalam), R Jayachandran (Kizhakkethil, South Pampady), Shiju Philip (Alumkal, Thazhathuvadakara), AD Radhakrishnan Kartha (Saraswathi Mandiram, Pallickathode), AJ Alex Panicker (Adaangapurath, Madathumbhagam North), AJ Joseph (Arackal, Irumbayam) and KS Jaison (Kanikunnel, Mattakkara) were honoured in the meeting held in Kottayam.
K Mohanan Nair (Joint Rubber Production Commissioner- Development) IC, D Sreekumar, (Joint Rubber Production Commissioner- Extension) IC, M George Mathew (Deputy Rubber Production Commissioner) IC, Rosily Daniel (Assistant Development Officer), AD Radhakrishnan Kartha (rubber grower) and Shiju Philip (rubber grower) spoke on the occasion.