The Hindu Business Line : ‘30,000 acres in E. Godavari for rubber cultivation’

Visakhapatnam, March 23 The Rubber Board is taking up a project to promote rubber cultivation in 30,000 acres in three agency (tribal) mandals of East Godavari district – Maredumilli, Rampachodavaram and Y. Ramavaram – and the project is being taken up on the specific request of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, according to Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce.

At a press conference here on Sunday, Mr Ramesh said that currently rubber was being cultivated only on 250 acres in the area and “the project will greatly benefit the Girijans in the area, though it may not make much impact at the all-India level. Half of the cost will be borne by the State Government, 47 per cent by the Rubber Board and three per cent will be contributed by the beneficiaries in the form of labour.”

He urged the State Government to follow the Tripura model in rubber cultivation. An agreement would be signed soon between the State Government and the Rubber Board, he added. “According to our estimates, 15,000-20,000 Girijan families will derive benefit and the earnings per acre per annum will be of the order of Rs 50,000. From the sixth year, the plantations yield income. The project will start this year,” he said.

A similar initiative to help the Girijans in Visakhapatnam district was being taken up by promoting coffee cultivation in the 11 mandals under the Paderu Integrated Tribal Development Agency. “The Union Government has sanctioned Rs 45 crore for expanding coffee cultivation in the area and Koraput district of Orissa. Of the amount, Rs 40 crore will be spent in Andhra Pradesh and the State Government will contribute a matching grant of Rs 40 crore. The rest (Rs 5 crore) will be spent in Koraput,” he said.

He said that currently coffee was being cultivated in 80,000 acres under the Paderu ITDA and over “the next five years there will be an increase of 50,000 acres. The production, currently 4,000 tonnes, will be doubled.” Pepper could be cultivated as an inter crop and “each tribal family can get Rs 40,000 or so per acre.”

Mr Ramesh said the Naandi Foundation would export 300 tonnes of coffee grown in the area under the brand “Araku Emerald”. He said it was organic coffee and “once it gains acceptance in the international market, it will do a world of good to the Girijans in the area. They can get a premium.”

E-auctions for tobacco

In response to a question on tobacco auctions, the Minister said that electronic auctions would be introduced on an auction floor at Jangareddigudem in West Godavari district in May on an experimental basis.

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