Odisha: After coffee, Koraput admn starts rubber plantation for tribals' uplift

KORAPUT: After earning a name for its Koraput Coffee brand within and outside the state, the district administration has for the first time undertaken rubber plantation with an aim to enhance the tribal economy and to protect the degraded hill slopes.
Officials said that the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) in association with the Central Rubber Board and a voluntary organization, CYSD, has undertaken rubber plantation on 100 acres of land at Bilasil village under Champi panchayat of Laxmipur block and has identified at least 100 tribal beneficiaries.
"The topography of the region is best suited for rubber cultivation. Rubber plantation will not only enhance the livelihood of the tribal beneficiaries but also protect the environment. In the first phase, at least 15,000 rubber saplings will be planted on the hill slopes which will not only increase the green cover but also check soil erosion," said Karu Soren, project administrator, ITDA, Koraput.
Soren said it will take around seven years to get returns from the rubber trees in the form of latex though the beneficiaries can earn through inter-cropping in the meantime.
"As rubber cultivation is a long-term plan, the beneficiaries have been trained in inter-cropping to earn during this period to ensure their involvement in the plantation. It has been decided to undertake maize cultivation in the first year and pineapple and honey for the next three years each to ensure guaranteed income for the beneficiaries," he said.