The Hindu Business Line : Rubber growers see anomaly in visual grading system

SMALL growers of rubber in the State are livid that "wheeler-dealers" in the marketing chain continue to "mix it up" in the pretext of the visual grading system and deny them reasonable price for the produce.

Ribbed smoked sheets (RSS) are marketed based on visual assessment of quality. Grading is carried out by visual inspection according to the standards specified in the Green Book published by the Rubber Manufacturers Association Inc, Washington.

But, according to Mr S. Chandrasekharan Nair, Secretary, Quality Rubber Marketing Society (QRMS), a grouping for small growers based here, unscrupulous dealers mix good quality sheets from ungraded sheets with grade sheets and sell as RSS 1 grade. This is harmful both for the producer as well as the consumer, he says.

The main objective of QRMS is to help members raise productivity and improve quality of rubber sheets. It also seeks to encourage small growers to produce high quality natural rubber (NR) and create awareness in him about the grading system. The society also undertakes to arrange for display of samples of various grades and ensure that the graded rubber collected is sold directly to the manufacturer, bypassing middlemen.

According to Mr Nair, the most serious problem faced by the small grower is the exploitation at the hands of middlemen, and the situation will not change so long as the farmer has no direct contact with the manufacturer.

The dealers must display samples of sheets of various grades at their collection outlets, even as they try to come clean on visual grading. It would be ideal if the Rubber Board and the State Government work out a computerised grading system. After all, price is fixed on the basis of quality of the rubber sheets.

The Rubber Board has a Technical Grading Cell, which is supposed to enforce proper grading practices. But, according to Mr Nair, it does not supply, nor insist on dealers that the Green Book be displayed for the small grower's reference. In this manner, they are left to the mercy of unscrupulous dealers.

The display of Green Book must be made mandatory at all procurement centres and grading must be made on the basis of what is prescribed therein if only to prevent procurement of Insufficiently Dried Sheets (IDS) and Insufficiently Smoked Sheets (ISS). This would go to assure reasonable price to farmers, too.

The State Cooperative Rubber Marketing Federation and other cooperatives must buy only quality sheets, i.e. up to RSS Grade 5, Mr Nair said.