Kerala is the largest rubber producer in the country. More than a decade back, its rubber production started falling as growers found it unprofitable owing to rising production costs and falling prices amid cheap imports from Vietnam and Indonesia.

Bordering Karnataka, Ulikkal village in the Kannur district was a lush landscape that was once predominantly a rubber-growing area. Among millions of rubber farmers, Biju Narayanan’s family who cultivated rubber on one-third of the farmland, also lost their major income source with plummeting profitability. It became costlier to produce rubber than to sell it.

The average cost of production was around Rs 160 per kg and the selling price was Rs 110 per kg. “The rates in rubber were dwindling as farmers could fetch only Rs 100 per kg from rubber. A labourer could earn more wages daily. It was not sufficient for farmers,” he informs.

Biju reconsidered the agricultural practices and made the bold decision to replace seven acres of his family’s rubber trees with a variety of exotic fruits like rambutan, mangosteen, pepper, areca nut, coconut, cashew, and other crops. “I axed most of the rubber trees to try new plantations. People called me a madman,” laughs the progressive farmer.

This decision, once criticised and deemed as madness by many, including his own family, has since........

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