Kerala farmer replaces rubber with rambutan and dragon fruit; earns Rs 6 lakh per acre

When Saju MC completed his BA in Economics in 1982, almost every second person in Kerala was heading to the Gulf. He also went there, worked for five years as an accountant in a construction company and returned to his native village in Koothattukulam in 1988.

“My father and grandfather were into farming. They lived a quiet and happy life. I wanted to follow suit. So I came back to look after our paddy plantations,” the 65-year-old farmer tells 30Stades.

Soon, the wave of rubber plantations came, promising higher profitability than paddy. Thousands of farmers in Kerala shifted from paddy to rubber, but almost two decades later, the farmers were struggling with high costs and low profitability.

“Rubber plantations on one acre give only Rs 60,000 net income in a year. Exotic fruits give ten times the income from rubber,” he says.

“Earlier, rubber tapping was not expensive due to low labour costs. But as the next generation went abroad, there was a shortage of people for rubber tapping work,” says Saju.

Rubber tapping is a skilled, manual process of extracting latex from trees. It is difficult to automate the work due to the complex contours of rubber tree trunks and the precise cutting techniques needed to avoid tree damage.

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The shift towards exotic fruits

“By 2020, due to declining profitability, we thought of replacing rubber plants on five acres with a better-paying crop. At that time, rambutan was the best option due to rising demand and high market rates,” he adds.

Rambutan is an exotic fruit native to the Malaysian−Indonesian region. “I also planted dragon fruit between rambutan plants to maximise returns from land,” says Saju.

Both rambutan and dragon fruit are low-maintenance plants because they are hardy, disease-resistant, and require pruning just once a year. They can thrive well with organic manure, vermicompost and minimal pesticides, if necessary.

Saju bought rambutan saplings from a nursery in Kerala. Rambutan has separate male and female plants. “Saplings can be made by budding or grafting, but budding is most successful. We purchased plants at Rs 200 each. They were six months old,” he says.

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Today, a rambutan sapling costs Rs400 due to rising demand. “In one acre, we planted rambutan at a plant-to-plant gap of 20 ft X 20ft, accommodating around 100 to 110 plants. The plantation was done between June and September 2020 over five acres,” the agripreneur says.

In the third year, Saju harvested 15 kg of rambutan per plant. “In the current season, the yield has doubled to 30 kg. After this, the yield will increase by 10 percent every year. From the tenth year, it reaches 250 kg per plant with good maintenance and care,” he says.

He has also planted dragon fruit between four plants of rambutan.

“I have put one pole each in the space between four rambutan plants. One pole can support four dragon fruit vines,” he says. In one acre, he has 25 dragon fruit poles.

For dragon fruit, commercial yield or maximum yield starts from the third year. “With four plants in one pillar, I harvest around 25 kg per pillar per season, which lasts from June to November,” Saju explains.

Marketing and revenues

He sells both the exotic fruits from his farm, without incurring any expenses on packaging, transportation or storage. “It reduces costs substantially. I get a farm gate price of Rs 150 per kg for both rambutan and dragon fruit. They retail at Rs300 per kg,” he says.

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While Saju’s income from rambutan is Rs 5 lakh per acre, it is Rs one lakh from the intercropped dragon fruit plants, taking the total to Rs 6 lakh per acre.

Saju uses micro sprinkler irrigation as it provides consistent moisture to the root zone, which rambutans need to thrive. “It also offers efficient water use for horticultural crops and provides uniform water distribution,” he adds.

A micro-sprinkler is necessary as rambutan flowers in January-February when the temperature is around 38 degrees Celsius in Kerala. “Flowers can’t withstand this heat, so we have to give water consistently,” Saju explains.

After flowering, the rambutan fruit is ready for harvest in July-August. Saju practices residue-free farming to maintain soil health and plant health. “Both can have good health with minimum chemical fertilisers, which leave no residue before harvesting,” he says.

However, Saju has a word of caution for farmers planning to go into rambutan cultivation.

“One, it will not work in dry regions like most parts of Maharashtra due to the temperature requirements. Secondly, around 2 million plants of rambutan are under production in Kerala as of now. So the supply is increasing, and in some years from now, the market rate of rambutan might come down. Farmers must remember these high rates will not continue forever,” he adds.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai-based journalist specialising in financial, business and socio-economic reporting) 

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