A. Ajithkumar, chairman, Rubber Board, has called upon the Rubber Producers’ Societies (RPS) to transform themselves into skill development centres, as the natural rubber sector required a lot of skill development.
Mr. Ajithkumar was speaking at the promotional meeting organised to popularise weekly tapping in the plantation sector, at Chirakkadavu Model RPS near Kanjirappally. According to him, rubber sector faces acute shortage of rubber tappers. At present, the average age of rubber tappers is 40 plus.
Need to woo youngsters
There is a need to attract youngsters into the sector.
They needed training and the Board would take up the challenge in association with Rubber Skill Development Council, Mr. Ajithkumar added. The Board is now engaged in a campaign with the theme ‘weekly tapping, with no yield drop’ in the traditional rubber growing belt of Kerala Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The campaign expects to meet 70,000 growers during the campaign.
The second phase of campaign, focussing on the new rubber growing areas in the North Eastern States, will commence in the first week of July.
