1

SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE AND THE PROBLEMS OF RUBBER TAPPERS

A STUDY AT PECHIPARAI VILLAGE (IN KAYAKUMARI DISRTICT)
A project work submitted to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the Degree of

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ECONOMICS Submitted by

ARUN. V. KAROL D. DEEPU M. P. JINEESH S. D. SAJAN THOMAS VISHNU. M. S

(Reg.No: (Reg.No: (Reg.No: (Reg.No: (Reg.No:

2820625) 2820626) 2820627) 2820633) 2820638)

Under the Guidance of

Dr. G. Robert Gixon, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.,

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
NESAMONY MEMORIAL CHRISTIAN COLLEGE MARTHANDAM 629 165 (Accredited by NAAC with B+)
APRIL 2011

Chapter - I

INTRODUCTION
Kanyakumari district holds a dominant position both in the area of cultivation as well as in the production of natural rubber in India. The district has more than 15 percent of the total cultivation and nearly 10 percent of the total production of natural rubber in India. It accounts for more than 95% of the production of natural rubber in the state of Tamil Nadu. Rubber is cultivated mainly in the hilly areas (on the Western Ghats) in the interior.

1.1 Description
Rubber is a polymer consisting of hydrogen and carbon and is elastic in nature. It is found in the fluid of some specific plants but it can also be produced synthetically. Naturally, rubber is produced by the process of tapping of the plant called Hevea Brasiliensis. These plants generally have 32 years of economic life but they may live up to 100 years or even more than that. Synthetic rubber is produced through the process of polymerization of various monomers. The basic property of rubber is that it comes back to its original shape if it is twisted or stretched but if heat is applied to the rubber, it wont return to its original shape easily.

1.2 Overview
Rubber is found in two varieties Natural Latex and Natural Rubber. Natural Latex is referred to a fluid, white in color, which is attained from rubber tree. It comprises of small rubber particles and plant proteins. Natural Rubber is produced with the help of either of the two processes Natural Rubber Latex process (NRL) or Dry Natural Rubber process (DNR) and it includes all the products made from latex. The rubber industry produces wide range products like auto tyres, auto tubes, automobile parts, footwear, belts, cables & wires, battery boxes etc. Block rubber, Preserved Latex, Crepes and sheets are some forms in which rubber is produced and used. The worlds total production of rubber was 7.9 million tons in 2003 and the Asian countries dominated it with 6.76 million tons i.e. about 85% of the total worlds produce. Thailand, Indonesia and India are the topmost rubber producing countries in the world. Worlds total rubber consumption in 2003 was 7.89 million tons including synthetic rubber consumption of 1.13 million tons i.e. about 14% of the total consumption. The natural rubber consumption is largely contributed by the automobile industry and the transportation sector. The tyres and tubes

producing companies like Pirelli and Bridgestone etc requires lakhs of tons of natural rubber annually. The leading consumer country of rubber is China with a figure of 1215000 tons of rubber consumed during 2001. India comes at the fourth place when the consumption of rubber is concerned with a total consumption of 631000 tons in 2001 after U.S.A and Japan. Rubber industry is very sensitive as the price of rubber is constantly changing and any economic decline or rise affects the rubber industry to a large extent.
1.3

History
Like maize, rubber also owes its existence to South America. Since a long

time, the central and the South Americans had collected rubber from a plant named Castilla elastica. These people used to play a ball game by making balls of rubber. The natives came to know about the various uses of rubber and understood the importance of it. Other than playing games with rubber balls, rubber was also used in making temporary shoes, fixing stone and metal tools to wooden handles and making water proof clothes. When the Europeans explored the American continent, they were all astonished to see a material like this and how these native Americans used it. Likewise the whole world was introduced to rubber. It was later found that rubber

was successful in erasing or rubbing the pencil marks on the paper. Thats how this material got the name Rubber.

1.4 Cultivation pattern

The most common rubber plantations consist of a plant Hevea Brasiliensis. It is a tall, lean plant, which is the most economical plant for rubber production. The latex is extracted from the plant by making a slanting cut in the bark of the trunk. It is called tapping of rubber. Initially this plant was found in South America but it was introduced to the rest of the world and now Asian countries have become the leading producers of rubber by adopting and cultivating this plant. At least, the 1st 6 years of this plant do not produce any rubber and to reach the tapping stage it may take even about 12 years. Rubber plantation needs a hot and humid climate to prosper. These plants have great quality of sustaining in the drought condition but it prefers humid and wet conditions to grow.

1.5 Processing
The natural rubber can be produced using the following processes: -

Dry Natural Rubber process In this process, the rubber is compressed at high pressure and temperature. The allergic proteins lose their nature in these conditions and hence become less risky. Natural Rubber Latex process In this process, rubber is produced by suspending the natural latex in a concentrated colloidal form. It includes a greater amount of allergic proteins that makes it a more risky.

1.6 Rubber producing countries

Thailand Indonesia India Malaysia China Vietnam Liberia Sri Lanka Brazil Philippines Nigeria Cambodia

Thailand started a replanting program in 1991 and as a result it became the leading producer and exporter country replacing Malaysia. Thailands rubber has become the worlds largest used rubber and the whole world is dependent upon it as Thailand has a strong base on research and development of rubber.

1.7 Production of rubber in India

Unlike the world production of rubber which was unstable during the last 10 years, Indian production is consistently growing at 6 percent. The areas in India on which the rubber is produced can be divided into 2 zones namely traditional and non-traditional.

Traditional zone comprises of the southwest coastal regions of India, constitute, Kanyakumari district in Tamilnadu and a few districts of Kerala. Non-traditional zone constitutes Coastal regions of Karnataka Goa Andhra Pradesh Orissa

Some areas of Maharashtra

Northeastern states (mainly Tripura) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Kerala contributes 90% of Indias total production. Also, Kerala and Tamil Nadu share 86% of the growing area of natural rubber.

1.8 Indian rubber market

As mentioned above, India stands at the third place in the list of rubber producing nations in the world. Also, India is the leading producer of reclaim rubber and has the capacity to fully consume its natural rubber production. Indias production fluctuates around 6-7 lakh tons annually which amounts to Rs. 3000 crores. Kerala accounts for 90% of the total Indian produce. Among them 72% of the total rubber production is in the form of Ribbed Smoked Sheets (RSS), which is also imported by India accounting for 45% of the total rubber imports. Indian natural rubber consumption stands at the fourth place after USA, China and Japan. Turnover of Rs 12000 crores is done by the Indian rubber industry. Most of the rubber is consumed by the tyre industry i.e. 52% of the total

production of India. Kerala is the leading consumer of rubber in India followed by Punjab and Maharashtra. India largely exports rubber in the form of tyres which make worth of around 1200 crores a year. The exports of Indian natural rubber have increased dominantly during the past few years and have reached 76000 tons in 2003-04. The major rubber markets of Indian exports are: -

China Malaysia Indonesia Turkey Sri Lanka Spain Pakistan Singapore

Nepal and

Germany

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1.9 Market Influencing Factors

Production of rubber fluctuates on a monthly level keeping low in the rainy season Production growth in automobile industry Ratio of domestic rubber utilization and imported rubber utilization Government policies International price movements of rubber Speculation Hoarding and storability

1.10 Major trading centers of rubber

Tokyo Commodity Exchange Singapore Commodity Exchange Osaka Mercantile Exchange Kuala Lumpur London New York In India, rubber is traded at

Kottayam

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Kochi Kozhikode Kannur

1.11 Rubber Tapping

Rubber tapping is the process by which the sap (rubber) is gathered. An incision is made in the bark of a rubber tree, which cuts through the planting cycle to optimise the latex yield. Such monoculture plantations, however, have far less of an environmental impact than other examples, such as coffee and especially oil palm. It is an environmentally attractive land use. Jungle rubber, being essentially old secondary forest, strongly resembles the primary forest. Its species richness is about half the level of the primary forest. Michon and de Foresta (1994) found that sample jungle rubber sites contained 92 tree species, 97 lianas, and 28 epiphytes vs. 171, 89, and 63 respectively in the primary forest and compared to 1,1, and 2 in monoculture estates. Thiollay (1995) estimates that jungle rubber supports about 137 (45% of them associated with primary forests) bird species vs. 241 in the primary forest itself. We would expect jungle rubber also to resemble primary forest in its hydrological functions.

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Each night a rubber tapper must remove a thin layer of bark along a downward half spiral on the tree trunk. If done carefully and with skill, this tapping panel will yield latex for up to 5 years. Then the opposite side will be tapped allowing this side to heal over. The spiral allows the latex to run down to a collecting cup. The work is done at night or in the early morning before the day's temperature rises, so the latex will drip longer before coagulating and sealing the cut. Depending on the final product, additional chemicals can be added to the latex cup in order to preserve the latex for longer. Ammonia solution helps prevent natural coagulation and allows the latex to remain in its liquid state. Plastic bags containing a coagulant have replaced cups in many plantations in Malaysia. This form of latex is used as the raw material for latex concentrate, which is used for dipped rubber products or for the manufacture of Ribbed Smoke Sheet grades. Naturally coagulated latex, sometimes referred to as cup lump, and is collected for processing into block rubbers, which are referred to as Technically Specified Rubbers (TSR). The serum left after latex coagulation is rich in quebrachitol, a cyclitol or cyclic polyol.

1.12 Importance of the study

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Rubber cultivation and production is not an easy and simple avocation. It needs a large and professional labour force during its whole lifetime existence. Tapping of rubber trees is not only a skilled job but also highly labour intensive. Tapping is normally continued for 10-20 years; depending on how fast accessible the bark is consumed. The rate of bark consumption will depend on the skill of the tapper, clone and age of the tree, fertility of the soil, climatic conditions and the rate of adoption of improved tapping practices

Similarly, response to tapping system varies from clone to clone. Rubber Board has recommended half spiral third daily tapping for reducing the panel disease. Naturally, this system of tapping tends to reduce the number of tapping days by 30 to 35 days

Self-tapping is not popular in Kanyakumari. Even Small growers of rubber area below half a hectare hire labourers for tapping. Tapping labourers in rubber estates are not highly organized in the study area.

Even though more than 10 folds of tapper in the rubber estate are working in the smallholdings; there is the absence of well-defined wage rate or working conditions. Moreover, the problems of rubber tapper in the smallholdings have not been seriously taken into consideration even by the institution connected with

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rubber. Thus, the actual force behind the glittering development of small holding rubber sector has not been given adequate consideration in the rubber related studies. Hence, this micro level study assumes importance.

1.13 Review of literature

The development of rubber economy of Kanyakumari district is an important step towards the advancement of agriculture sector in the state. There have been a number of studies about the spectacular development of small holding rubber sector and its dominant role in the total production of natural rubber. But these studies deal only with productivity, technology adoption, credit facilities and different schemes of governmental agencies to encourage production. It is unfortunate that there has not been any specialized and comprehensive study on the problems of the unorganized tappers in the smallholdings. However, there are some studies about the agricultural laboureres and plantation workers in the state. These studies are, to some extent, applicable to tappers as well.

According to Pranab .K. Bardhan, `personalized Clientalisation fragments the labour markets, fractures the consciousness and emasculates class organization. Clientalisation is the tendency for repetitive purchasers of particular goods and

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services to establish continuous relationship with particular purveyors of them, rather than searching widely through the market at each occasion of need.

Bent Hansen, Bhalla, Errikson, Roberts and Pranab Bardhan have studied the features of attached labour in agricultural sector. Attached laboureres are defined as those who are more or less in continuous employment. Their findings show that tighter labour markets lead to more tied labour contracts. In slack labour markets with high unemployment, the employer often does not bother to have long term contracts with labour since he is surer of the labour supply.

There are studies regarding the Trickle down Effects of growth on poverty among the agricultural labourers of India. This suggests that in general, growth in agricultural output tends to generate some forces improving the income of wage labourers. Yield increasing or land improvement factors and the demand for hired labour increase their income. The new technology also increases the bargaining power of wage labourer. But the studies of Parthsarathy and Prasad and Mellor observed that in India new technology may have adversely affected the relative share of wage labour in output. It is fruitful to analyze the socio economic profile of rubber tappers in the light of the concept of Livelihood Diversification. Frank Ellis defined this concept as the process by which rural families construct diverse

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portfolio of activities and social support capabilities in their struggle for survival and in order to improve their standard of living.

The evolution of technology in the rubber economy of Kerala and, its development in various stages of rubber cultivation and production are widely discussed and analyzed in the Hand Book of Natural Rubber, published by the Rubber Research Institute in kottayam

According to Tileke Ratne and Nugawela the use of rain guard enabled not only to maximize natural rubber production but also to reduce seasonal unemployment of rubber tappers.

Lack of skilled tappers is considered as the emerging problem in smallholdings .According to Ng Kok Tee, labour shortage is one of the major problems behind the decline in natural rubber production in Malaysia. There is a move of production factors from agriculture sectors to other sectors and the shortage of labour has been accelerating this process.

Pushpa Rajah in one of his articles points out that Malaysia has given more Importance to the innovations in labour saving techniques of rubber cultivation. He states that future of Malaysian rubber industry will brighten up only by making

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rubber cultivation a less labour-intensive system particularly in tapping. The study predicts that in the near future, the approach to rubber as a monocrop solely for latex will slowly phase out. Then rubber will be planted for the timber as a primary product and latex will be an important by- product.

1.14 Objectives of the study

The study focuses on the socio- economic profile of rubber tappers in the pechiparai village. The specific objectives are: i ) To assess the living conditions of rubber tappers in the study area, ii) To analyze the labour market, the level of wage and wage structure of rubber t tappers,

iii) To examine the major problems of the tappers in the study area

1.15 Methodology of the study

The period covered by the study is 2010 - 2011. The social and economic status of rubber tappers in the study area along with the changes in tapping technology over the past years and the factors responsible for the non- adoption of these improved technologies are closely examined. The land area, housing condition and the house hold management, per capita income, educational status,

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house hold debt, savings, consumption pattern etc. are being considered as the indicators of the general living conditions of a rubber tapper. Pechiparai Panchayth in Kanyakumari district is high in the Western Ghats. The Panchayth has a population of 2500 Kanikkar tribals living scattered in around 24 forest settlements. Spread around the huge Pechiparai reservoir, built around hundred years back, the settlements coexist with wild animals like elephants, tiger, bear, wild boar and other animals. Caught up between the traditional forest dependent life styles and modernism these tribals are in a transition. With education reaching them they are now claiming for better facilities. The new generation refuses to remain in their olden day stagnation. The present study is mostly based on primary data collected in a survey. For the data collection, sample method is adopted. A total of 50sample tappers are selected in the study area. In the case of sample survey, selected tappers were interviewed with a structural questionnaire. Observation at the time of survey helped to some extent to generate some aspects relating to tappers living conditions and tapping awareness which are not quantified.

The sample study includes the data regarding various aspects of the living

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conditions of tappers, technology relating to tapping. On the basis of these data socioeconomic status of sample tappers is estimated. Average age of tappers, social and economic status, the diffusion and rate of adoption of tapping techniques, growers response to tappers is also estimated from the sample respondents.

To analyze the socio-economic status of tappers we have used various statistical tools.

The present study has also used secondary data. Important sources of the secondary data are various publications of Rubber Board, various issues of journals and periodicals.

1.16 Scheme of the study

The study consists of five chapters. The first chapter is an introductory chapter where a brief account of the significance of rubber economy of Kanyakumari district and the world rubber economy. The various problems faced by tappers and the importance of present study are also given in this chapter. An analysis of primary investigations conducted in pechiparai village is presented in the second chapter. The socio- economic profile of rubber tappers, role of

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institutions and rate of adoption of improved tapping techniques in the study area are closely examined in this chapter. The labour market conditions of tappers, their wage structure etc, are discussed in the third chapter. The problems of the tappers in the study area are discussed in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter gives the summary and conclusions of the study.

Chapter - II Socio-economic profile of rubber tappers

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The study area covers most of the places in the pechiparai village. Majority of the population in the area depends on rubber cultivation for their livelihood.

2.1 Socio economic background of sample Ho households

2.1.1 Community Wise Distribution
Table-2.1 Community Wise Distribution of sample respondents
Prominent communities of rubber tappers in the area are Nadar and Kanikkar tribals (ST). Community Kanikkar tribals Nadar Others Total No. of respondents 23 18 9 50 Percentage 46 36 18 100

Table 2.1 shows that more than one third of the respondents belong to Kanikkar tribals and around 46 percent belongs to Kanikkar tribals community. Total share of Nadar communities is 36 percent and the others are only of 18 percent. The following pie chart shows the clear picture of the community wise distribution;

2.1.2 Age distribution and Educational Status

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Table 2.2 shows the age wise distribution of the sample tappers;

Table-2.2 Age Distribution of Sample Tappers

Age Group No. of Tappers Percentage 25-45 28 56 45-65 20 40 Above 65 2 4 Total 50 100 The above table reveals that 56 percent of the respondents being to the age group of 25-45, about 40 percent of them belong to the age group of 45-65 and only 4 percent of the respondents belong to the age group above 65. Table 2.3 shows the educational status of sample tappers. In the table it is revealed that 10 percent of the respondents are illiterates, 34 percent of respondents have primary education. Nearly 44 percent of them are have secondary education. Only 6 percent of the sample tappers had reached SSLC and above.

Table-2.3 Educational Status of Sample Tappers

Educational Status Illiterates Primary Secondary Above Class 10 No. of Tappers 5 17 22 6 Percentage 10 34 44 12

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Total

50

100

2.1.3 Residential Facilities

Most of the sample respondents have their own houses, except two families which reside in a rented house.

Table-2.4 Distribution of residential facilities

Type of roof
Tiles Asbestos Concrete Others Total

No. of Households

Percentage

10 28 7 5 50 Table-2.5 Type of fuel used

20 56 14 10 100

Type of fuel Gas

Wood Kerosene Total

No. of Households

Percentage

5 35 10 50 Table-2.6 Basic Amenities of Sample Respondents

10 70 20 100

Household amenities T.V Radio Fan

No. of Households 48 45 50

Percentage 96 90 100

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Fridge Tape recorder Mixer grinder Vehicle Phone

13 30 28 10 49

26 60 56 20 98

The above tables clearly reveals about the type of roof, type of fuel used and household amenities in the house where the rubber tappers reside. This gives a clear picture about the housing condition of the sample respondents

2.1.4 Earnings of sample Households

Total annual earnings of sample respondents consist of income obtained from the rubber tapping and from other different sources. The size of monthly income varies from respondents to respondents. The following table clearly reveals the size of monthly income of the respondents.

Table-2.7 Earnings of sample households

Size of Income (`) Below 10000 10000-20000 20000-30000 Above 30000 Total No. of Sample Tappers 16 22 7 5 50 Percentage 32 44 14 10 100

The table reveals that 16 percent of the total respondents are only having an income below ` 1000. 44 percent of the respondents are earning an income

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between ` 10000 - ` 20000. 14 percent of the respondents are earning an income between ` 20000 - ` 30000.Only 10 percent of them earns above ` 30000.

2.1.5 Consumption Pattern

Major share of the total expenditure is represented by the expenditure on food articles.

Table-2.8 Consumption pattern of sample households

Item Food Articles Fuel Entertainments Clothing Education News Paper & Magazines Medical Expenditure Total Percentage 70 2 1 12 8 1 6 100

More than 90 percent of the sample households depend solely on fire wood and most of the fire woods are collected from the working fields or from their own lands or from some other lands without any cost. The second largest share in the total expenditure is on clothing (12%). Greater part of expenditure on clothing is for children. Even though nowadays education is increasingly becoming expensive, the annual average expense on education comes only 8%. A good proportion of households do not get proper medical facilities due to their difficulties in approaching private hospitals and the backwardness of government hospitals.

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2.1.6 Debt position

Out of the 50 sample households 85 percentage are indebted.

Table-2.9 Distribution of sample households according to debt

Debt (`) Below 1000 1000-10000 10000-20000 20000-30000 30000-40000 40000-50000 50000-75000 75000-100000 Above 100000 Total No. of households 6 8 10 2 7 9 3 3 2 50 Percentage 12 16 20 4 14 18 6 6 4 100

The major sources of the sample households debt are private money lenders, commercial banks, co-operative banks, merchants, friends and relatives. Rate of interest varies depending on the sources of debt. Usually merchants, friends and relatives do not charge any interest at all. Loans from organized sectors financial institutions such as commercial banks and co-operative society charge less than 18 percent interest per year. However, the unorganized sector which consists of moneylenders and indigenous banks are imposing exorbitant rate that may come to 125 percent per annum. As the annual income is less than expenditure these households are compelled to be debtors.

Table-2.10

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Relative share of different sources of debt

Sources Commercial Banks Co-operative Banks Private Money Lenders Others Total Percentage 20 25 50 5 100

Relative share of commercial banks, Cooperative banks and Moneylenders in the total volume of debt is 20 percent, 25 percent and 50 percent respectively. Sample households depend more on money lenders than on commercial banks because of their simple procedures in lending money. But most of the private money lenders charge a high rate of interest.

2.2 Details of Tapping

Generally tapping is a process of controlled wounding during which the shavings of bark are removed. The important factors responsible for harvesting a rubber tree are the height of opening, slope and direction of tapping cut, etc. Skilled tapping is necessary for the good health of rubber tree and for maintaining the longevity of its production period. Tapping system varies from clone to clone. Generally budded trees are tapped as half spiral alternate daily system and seedlings as half spiral third daily system.

Table-2.11 Adoption of Tapping System

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Type of Tapping No. of tappers Percentage Daily 5 10 Alternate Daily 42 84 Third Daily 3 6 Total 50 100 According to the nature of the trees, there are different types of tapping systems such as daily tapping system, intensive tapping, high-level tapping, controlled upward tapping etc. Half spiral alternate daily tapping system is adopted by 84 percent of farmers though various diseases affect their trees. Only 6 percent has followed the improved tapping system like third daily. Another reason for such a selection is the labour problem. The entire tappers are using only ordinary knife for tapping. According to the tappers, it does not make any benefit by adopting the new techniques.

2.3 Wage Details

Here tappers are not given wages in the basis of number of trees tapped. They will get their fixed daily wages.

Table-2.12 Distribution of sample tappers on the basis of wage rate

Wage (`) 100-200 200-300 300-400 400-500 Total No. of tappers 2 12 15 21 50 Percentage 4 24 30 42 100

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From the above table we can know that majority sample households (42%) receive a wage rate between rupees 400-500.The average fixed wage is estimated to be rupees 250. But on the other hand the fact is that they will not receive job on all the days. Throughout the study it came know that majority of the respondents cant receives any advance payments. The following chart will explains the wage rate clearly;

Chapter - III RUBBER TAPPERS LABOUR MARKET

Nearly 70 percent of the working population of India depends on agriculture for their lively hood. Small size of land holdings, out- dated production techniques, low price of agricultural products, financial constraints of farmers, lack of institutional frame work, dependence on rain fall etc. contribute to low productivity. Therefore, those who are engaged in agriculture have to suffer from unemployment. Different forms of unemployment in Indian agricultural sector are

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open unemployment, under employment, seasonal unemployment and disguised unemployment. Globalization and operation of World Trade Organisation have aggravated the misery of agricultural sector.

Most of the studies of agricultural labour market of Tamilnadu start with the statement that there is labour shortage. Two peculiar features of agricultural sector of Tamilnadu are the dominance of smallholdings and perennial tree crops. These features have highly influenced the agricultural labour market which necessitates a deviation from the conventional theories.

Small growers over- whelming dominate the field of rubber cultivation. About 95 percent of smallholdings have an area of cultivation below 8 acres and 57.33 percent are of below 2.5 acres.

3.1 Present Trends of Labour Market

The study reveals that the shortage of tapping laboureres has not reached a serious extent now, though there is scarcity of skilled tappers. Unemployed persons are not ready for tapping labour. The major reason is low wage rate. Some other factors including market imperfections are also to be brought under study. Not only

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objective factors like market forces but also subjective factors like perspectives of growers and labour force are to be taken in to consideration.

When we analyze various aspects of supply side, there can be seen excess supply of labour. At the same time there is excess demand for labour. Present problem is not a high shortage of labour, but shortage of skilled tappers. The old generation of tappers has a tendency to stick on to system of tapping which is more or less out dated. Various types of high yielding clones are introduced later. Subsequently, modifications in tapping techniques have also been proposed and implemented. But the old generation of tappers who represent a lion share of total tapping community is usually unaware of these changes due to lack of training facilities. On the contrary, the new generation of tappers are not interested in tapping and they consider only as a temporary engagement. They also do not try to follow better techniques of tapping which is indispensable for better crop and durability of trees. A substantial proportion of growers are not satisfied with the performance of their tappers. But lack of skilled tappers compels them to retain the existing tappers.

The approach of tappers should also be considered. Majority of the tappers belong to the age group, above 40 years. Though they are not averse to tapping, it is not easy to train them in the modern technique of tapping due to their over age,

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personal bondage with growers and a sufficient amount of ego that they are the masters of tapping.

The younger generation is averse to tapping. Only six percent of tappers come under the age group below 30 years. They are more dissatisfied with the prevailing wage rate than the older generation. They consider tapping as a temporary livelihood. They are not interested to stick on to tapping like the older generation. An occasional movement between casual labour and tapping can be seen. The lack of skilled tappers is the basic reason behind the complaint of shortage of laboureres.

Behind the operation of supply and demand there is the working of personal relationship between tapper and grower.

Most of the tappers especially younger generation does not enjoy the pleasure of work. A feeling of being comfortable is far away from tappers. Low wage rate is not the sole reason. There is a belief among tappers and growers that tapping is carried out by people of low status and tappers are always vigilant to get out of the field of tapping at the convenient occasion. Tappers who are parents of students are anxious of the social status of their children. However, due to the absence of alternative job opportunities they continue. But a notable proportion of

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senior tappers are not capable of being absorbed in other fields. They lack the minimum technical knowhow and abilities needed in other fields due to their long engagement in tapping and consequent ignorance of other fields. They are accustomed with tapping and do not try to move to another job.

Another feature of labour market of tappers is the absence of trade union activities. The bargaining power is lesser than other agricultural works. The abovementioned subjective factors like moral ties have also contributed to this phenomenon. They adversely affect the consciousness of tappers as a class. The present trend of recession in rubber economy also aggravates the above situation, because the tappers are also aware of declining revenue of growers.

Low rate of trade union activities and working class consciousness are reflected in the number of disputes between tappers and growers, which come before the legal authority.

Table-3.1 Distribution of sample tappers on the basis of age

Age Group 25-45 46-65 Above 65 Total No. of tappers 28 20 2 50 Percentage 56 40 4 100

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Generally, there is no scarcity of tapping labourers to a notable extent, though there is scarcity of skilled labour force. But the situation is going to be serious in the future.

Chapter - IV Major problems and prospects of rubber tappers

When we conducted this study we come to know about many of the major problems of the rubber tappers in the pechiparai village. The major problems of the rubber tappers in the study area are listed below;

The main problem which affects these rubber tappers is that, most of them are affected with a chest pain. Thus this tapping work highly affects the physical health of the tappers.
Some of the estates where the tappers stay for tapping are not electrified.

This is because these estates are inside the forest area in Western Ghats. The place where these estates are situated is known as kayalvazhi, in the pechiparai village

35 Another problem which the tappers in the forest region always face is the

attacks from some wild animals like elephant, pigs, and some harmful reptiles.
The workers those who works in the estates situated inside the forest have to

stay there from Monday to Saturday. They will reach the outside world only after Saturday. Sunday is a holiday for them and they have to return back after their holiday.
The above mentioned tappers have to carry all the food stuffs along with

them when they go to their estates. The food stuffs which they carry with them have to be used for one week. The only way for these tappers to reach the estates are the mechanized boats.
The sample respondents will get up within the time period 4 A.M to 5.30

P.M. But some of the old aged respondents face some difficulty to wake up at early morning because of their body condition.
Another major problem which they find is that, they will lose their job when

the old rubber trees are cut down. After cutting the old trees, new trees are planted. These trees will grow up and will become mature for tapping only after 5 to 6 years. During these periods the tappers have to find some other jobs.
They dont receive a fair salary from the plantation owners. They also cant

receive any salary in advance.

36 The rain is one of the other major problem of these rubber tappers. During

the June July months most of them are unemployed due to rain.
There are not any good hospitals or good primary health centers in the study

area. So the peoples suffer a lot. Another problem which they face is a high indebt Most of the sample households are having a high debt. Sample households depend more on money lenders than on commercial banks because of their simple procedures in lending money. But most of the private money lenders charge a high rate of interest. The sample household likes to give a fair education to their children. But they cant fulfill it because of many difficulties like low salary, debt etc. One of the sample household named Titus aged 58 is having a debt of ` 100000. He borrowed the amount only for the purpose of his daughters marriage. He had borrowed the money from a money lender at a high rate of interest. Thus the study helps to realize many of the sufferings of the rubber tappers in the pechiparai village.

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Chapter - V Summary and conclusions

Among plantation crops rubber is the most important as far as area under cultivation is concerned. An important feature of rubber economy of Kanyakumari district is that it is overwhelmingly smallholder- oriented. More than 10 folds of tappers in estate sector are working in the small holding sector. There is the absence of well-defined wage rate and working conditions. Yet the problems and prospects of tappers have not been analyzed adequately even by the institutions related to rubber.

The present micro level study covers some sample households of pechiparai village. The study analyses the socio-economic conditions of rubber tappers, the features of labour market, the problems of tappers etc. The following are the findings and conclusions of the study.

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Kanikkar tribal and Nadar are the prominent communities of rubber tappers in the study area. Even though the percentage of illiterates in the sample is below 10, more than 90 percent of the literates could not go beyond the level of secondary education. More than 85 percent of the sample families have got only a land area below 50 cents. Hence, the share of agriculture in the total income is very low.

All the householders except two got their own houses. But the residential facilities are few. Modern amenities like television electric fans, telephone, fridges etc. are available only to a small proportion of tappers households. As cooking fuel, all of them use firewood. In addition to fire wood, about 30 percent of households use LPG or Kerosene.

The wage of tappers is determined on a piece rate basis. Average wage rate for a day is estimated to be Rs. 250/-. A person taps on average of below 300 trees daily. Average number of tapping days in a month is 12. Therefore, the monthly earning of a tapper cannot go beyond Rs.3000/-.

The wage rate of the tapper is proportional to the price of rubber to some extent. About 70 percent of total expenditure is represented by purchase of food materials followed by clothing (12 percent) and education (8 percent). Level of

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education and culture is reflected by low share of education, newspaper and magazines etc. in the total expenditure. As most of the households depend on government hospitals for medical needs, the share of medical expense is very low. Most of the tappers families are indebted. They depend more on cooperative sector because of its democratic set up in organizational level and simple procedures for getting small loans. Other sources are commercial banks, moneylenders etc. As the income is not enough to meet even the day-to-day expenses, the debt burden is always increasing.

The tappers mainly borrow money from the money lenders at a high rate of interest. This is a harmful thing for their living. Even though they know its consequences, they are ready to borrow the money from such money lenders. The main reason which they put forth was that, they can borrow the money easily and from a money lender, when compared to the banks.

A majority of the sample tappers are unaware of institutions such as the Rubber Board, Marketing Societies, Rubber Producing Societies, etc. They have not got any training regarding techniques of tapping. This is the major reason behind the scarcity of skilled tappers.

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A detailed study with respect to the features of tappers labour market has been carried out. Dominance of smallholdings and perennial tree crops are peculiar features of agricultural sector of Kanyakumari. The influence of these factors on labour market has caused a deviation from the conventional theories. Demand for labour arises in rubber cultivation only during the early three or four years and tapping periods.

Majority of small growers have a tendency to hire tappers even when unemployed. Educated members of the growers family are not interested in tapping. This phenomenon naturally increases the demand for tappers.

Decline in world rubber economy has forced different rubber producing nations especially Malaysia to deviate from cultivating rubber as a mono-crop for latex to planting rubber for timber as a primary product and latex as an important byproduct. Moreover, they try to adopt labour saving techniques in tapping. But mechanization in tapping has its own limitations.

The study shows that wage rate in tapping is not so sensitive to market forces as in agricultural sector as a whole. There is no discrimination in wage rates in terms of ability of tapping. But there are cases where better tapper enjoys some advantages such as being given priority in work during off-season.

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The shortage of tappers has not yet become a serious problem, though there is the scarcity of skilled tappers. Besides, low wage rate, market imperfections and some subjective factors are the determinants of labour supply.

Majority of tappers belong to the age group 30 years and more. They are not averse to tapping. But it is very difficult to train them in scientific methods of tapping because of their inflexibility out of overage, personal bondage with growers and their belief that they are masters of tapping. On the contrary, the younger generation is averse to tapping which is reflected by very low percentage of tappers below the age of 30 years.

Tapping is considered a job of low social status, especially in the case of younger generation. So they are always trying to get out of the work on the earliest opportunity. Only due to the absence of suitable job opportunities they continue. But the long engagements in tapping, ignorance of other fields, lack of physical abilities etc. of the elderly tappers make them unsuitable for other opportunities.

At present there is only scarcity of skilled tappers. But the trend shows that in the future the scarcity of tappers, whether skilled or unskilled, will become

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chronic due to the nature of younger generations not to depend on tapping for their livelihood.

Under all the above circumstances now there had arise a saving habit in the minds of the tappers. So that they are now saving a bit of money through LICs, Chit Funds etc...

In brief, the decline in the world rubber economy and trade liberalization policies of the nation has drastically affected the price of the natural rubber in India. This, in turn, adversely affects the income of small-scale rubber growers and the socio- economic conditions of rubber tappers. Moreover, disappointed with the decreasing remuneration, growers are reluctant to adopt better techniques of rubber cultivation and tapping. The subsequent fall in the growth of productivity increases the gravity of the crisis.

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Major Places of Rubber Cultivation in India (rubber tracts)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Books

Barlow Colin, Sisira, Jayasurya and C. Suan Tan, 1994,The World Rubber ndustry, Rouledge, London and Newyork

Bardhan Pranab, Land, Labour and Capital, Oxford University Press , Delhi

Bardhan Pranab, Mrinal Datta, Chandhari and T.N.Krishnan, 1993, Development And Change, oxford University Press, Delhi

Booth Anne, Sundaram R.M, 1984, Labour Absorption In Agriculture, Oxford University Press, Delhi.

Umadevi.S,1989, Plantation Economics of the Third World, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai

Vilanilam.J.V,

1973,

Rubber,

Kerala

Bhasha

Institute,

Thiruvananthapuram

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White, James, 1995, Rubber: Processing- Technology- Principles, Hanser publishers, Munich, Vienna, New York

Articles

Ellis Frank, 1998, Household strategies and Rural Livelihood Diversification Survey article, The journal of Development Studies, Frank Cass, London, October, Vol.35,

Ouseph

Thomas,

1996,

Shortage

of

Skilled

Tappers

Hits

Smallholdings, Rubber Asia, Dhanam Publication, Cochin

Thankamma L,1996 New Tapping system to prevent Brown Bast, Boot. Yield Rubber Asia, Dhanam publication, Cochin.

Reports

Government of India, Ministry of Commerce, Various issues, Indian Rubber Statistics

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Ministry of Commerce, 1968, Report of Rubber Small holdings Economic Enquiry Committee, The Rubber Board Various issues, Economic Review, Directorate of Economics and Statistics Website - www.crnindia.com

A STUDY AT PECHIPARAI VILLAGE 1. NAME : Mr. / Mrs. 2. MARITAL STATUS : Married / Unmarried 3. SEX : Male / Female 4. CASTE : FC / BC / SC / ST

PROJECT REPORT ON SOCIO ECONOMIC PROFILE AND THE PROBLEMS OF RUBBER TAPPERS

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5. EDUCATIONAL STATUS : Illiterate/Primary/ Secondary/Above class 10 6. AGE : 7. AREA OF OWN LANDS : 8. CONSUMPTION PATTERN
ITEMS AMOUNT (RS)

Food Articles Fuel Education Clothing News paper & Magazines Medical expenses Others

` ` ` ` ` ` `

9. SIZE OF FAMILY
NAME RELATION TO RESPONDENT MALE / FEMALE AGE MARRIED / UNMARRIED EDUCATION OCCUPATION

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10. INCOME
(1) INCOME FROM TAPPING : ` (2) INCOME FROM OTHER JOBS : ` (3) INCOME FROM PROPERTY (4) INCOME FROM OTHER SOURCES : ` : `
AMOUNT (RS)

11. DEBT DETAILS

SOURCES REASON FOR BORROWING

Commercial Banks Co-operative banks Money Lenders Others

` ` ` `

12. SAVINGS
(1) DO YOU HAVE SAVINGS? (2) IF YES GIVE DETAILS
INSTITUTION

YES / NO
TYPE OF SAVINGS AMOUNT (RS)

13. PROBLEMS YES / NO

(1.) DO YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS IN THE WORKING PLACE? (2.) IF YES STATE THE DETAILS OF THE PROBLEM

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14. DO YOU LIKE TO CONTINUE THIS WORK? YES / NO 15. TYPE OF TAPPING : Daily / Alternative daily / Third day 16. RECIDENTIAL FACILITIES (1.) TYPE OF ROOF : Tiles / Asbestos/ Concrete/ Thatched/ Others (2.) TYPE OF FUEL : Gas/ Wood / Kerosene (3.) HOUSE HOLD AMENITIES : TV/Radio/Fan/Fridge/Tape Recorder/Mixer Go I n d e Mixer grinder/Vehicle /Landline Phone/ M o Mobile Phone 17. WAGE DETAILS
WEEK DAYS AMOUNT (RS)

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

` ` ` ` ` ` `