The Hindu Business Line : Plantation Corpn draws up new plans

The company is thinking of forging direct links with the manufacturers so as to eliminate the marketing problems arising out of the agency arrangement.

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Thiruvananthapuram Feb. 6 The State-owned Plantation Corporation of Kerala Ltd (PCK) has drawn up a few business proposals to tone up operations as also to foray into new areas.

With 11 estates spread over seven districts in the State, PCK is into rubber, cashew and oil palm cultivation and processing and is expecting a turnover of over Rs 50 crore in the current year.

NEW FACTORY

The company, which has two centrifuging factories for producing concentrated latex, is now planning to set up a new factory at a cost of Rs 5 crore with modern machinery and storage facilities. This will enable the company to look beyond the domestic market and generate export earnings, according to Mr Babu Thomas, Managing Director.

He said that most of the manufacturers of gloves and condoms, which use centrifuged latex, are located outside the State and the marketing is done through agents. The company is now thinking of forging direct links with the manufacturers so as to eliminate the marketing problems arising out of the agency arrangement.

Apart from centrifuged latex, PCK is also producing crumb rubber and treated rubber wood.

Mr Babu Thomas said that in the area of cashew, the company had been selling raw nuts and though it tried its hands at value-added branded products, it did not go far. Now, efforts are on to find commercial use for cashew apple, which goes waste these days.

The company is also working on a proposal to increase the area under cashew in the State.

At one point of time, Kerala was ranked first in the country in cashew cultivation and it has now slipped to third place following the controversy over use of pesticides, that led to shrinkage in yield.

It plans to raise three lakh cashew saplings in the company's nurseries and distribute them to farmers. The idea is to encourage cultivation of cashew in plots that are now lying vacant.

FARM TOURISM

The corporation has also identified the potential of farm tourism and eco-tourism at its plantations in different parts of the State. It has made a beginning with a resort, namely `Plantation Valley' at Athirapilly in Thrissur district. The resort features 12 cottages and other facilities on the banks of the Chalakkudy river and close to the famous Athirapilly waterfalls.

The company is now thinking of converting the inspection bungalows at its estates into tourist resorts by renovating them and adding new facilities.

The corporation, which came into being in 1962, had run into financial problems later owing to the need for large-scale replanting in its estates. During the last three years, it has been running in profit and in the current year, it is expecting a net profit of over Rs 5 crore.

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