‘Small growers need more say on commodity boards'

Although the share of plantation crops in the country's merchandise export has declined to a little over 1 per cent currently from 20.8 per cent in 1950-51, it still remains a vital component in India's inclusive growth story.

The sector still provides livelihoods to a lot of people, especially women, and plays an important role in balanced regional development since plantations are most often located in backward areas.

Plantations are also crucial in facilitating ecological sustainability as they are often concentrated in ecologically fragile regions.

But the sector is plagued by varied spaces of exclusion and its impact is most felt by small and medium stakeholders, Dr K.J. Joseph, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, said.

One major space of exclusion is the inadequate representation of small and medium holders on commodity boards.

This is a big anomaly since commodity boards were formed not only to increase production and productivity of specific plantation crops but also to promote the interest of small holders, Dr Joseph said.

Though the Spices Board is meant to promote the cultivation and marketing of 52 spices, most of the attention continues to be bestowed on cardamom and pepper.

Small holders still have limited access to the market. And they either do not have or have limited access to big auction centres.

Filling up these spaces of exclusion will not only augment India's inclusive growth story but also increase production and productivity of plantation crops, Dr Joseph said. It will also ensure better returns and improved cultivation practices by the small holder.

Implications

The small holder's production and productivity will increase. In the case of rubber, the productivity boost will be significant since close to 85 per cent of rubber production in the country comes from small holders. And it will help arrest the divergence between production and consumption of rubber that has been widening in recent years.

The Spices Board had observed that while there is a significant growth in global demand for spices, Indian exports have grown significantly in value. But there has been no corresponding increase in export volumes.

Filling the spaces of exclusion is also expected to boost production and productivity of spices and result in increased volumes of exports as well.

SEMINAR

It is against this backdrop that the Union Ministry of Commerce is conducting a National Research Programme on Plantation Development that is meant to undertake policy-oriented research related to India's plantation sector and organise various activities towards research capacity-building.

The Centre for Development Studies, which is spearheading the research programme, is organising a national seminar on ‘Building Competitiveness in Globalised Era: Experience of India's Plantation Sector' during January 23-24.

Dr Joseph who is the coordinator for the programme said the seminar will be the culmination of a 21-day training programme on trade and development which began on January 4.

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