Thursday, July 2, 2009

ENCOURAGE CULVITATION OF RUBBER (PAGE 22, JUNE 27)

“PLAN your future, plant a rubber tree.” This is the slogan for the development of rubber plantations by individuals in the Western Region and elsewhere in the country.
‘Hevea brasiliensis’ is the botanical name for rubber and areas suitable for its production include forest zones of Western, Central, Eastern and Ashanti regions with minimum rainfall of 1,200 millimetres per annum relatively, evenly distributed on lower slopes, uplands, and flatlands.
Rubber plantation development is one of the lucrative farming ventures in the Western Region, but its importance in the alleviation of poverty seems to have been downplayed.
Besides cocoa, oil palm and coconut, rubber now stands out as one of the most profitable farming activities, even though it takes a long time, about six years, to mature.
Now, coconut farmers whose farms were affected by the Lethal Yellowing Disease (LYD) are cutting down their coconut trees to make way for the development of rubber plantations in the region.
The latex from the rubber tree is collected and processed into natural rubber. About 90 per cent of the natural rubber produced is used by tyre manufacturers.
Africa produces less than five per cent of the rubber worldwide, with Cote d’lvoire leading the production with 300,000 tonnes per annum, followed by Liberia.
Presently, Ghana produces 15,000 tonnes of rubber per year and could reach 50,000 tonnes by the year 2020.
Rubber cultivation and planting are labour intensive but the farm gives a regular monthly income for up to 30 years. The drawback is that it takes six years to mature.
The Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL) was established in 1968 as a joint venture between the government and Firestone when 7,000 hectares of rubber was planted to signify the genesis of the cultivation of rubber in the Western Region and the country as a whole.
But Firestone opted out of the venture in 1981 and the greater part of the plantation was abandoned. GREL was rehabilitated between 1988 and 1996 during which 4,000 hectares of rubber was planted.
A Rubber Outgrower Plantations Project (ROPP) was launched on January 1, 1995 with the vision to spearhead economic empowerment through rubber cultivation for sustainable rural community development to alleviate poverty.
The project also has a mission to deliver quality extension services to rubber outgrowers through advance and innovative technology by motivated staff of GREL, to enable outgrowers to enjoy sustainable income, better living and to contribute to national development.
Under the phase one of the project from 1995 to 1999, 400 outgrowers were assisted to plant a little over 1,200 hectares over a five-year period, while 3,500 hectares of old rubber plantations of individuals and co-operatives were rehabilitated as against the target of 1,300 hectares.
Forty-one kilometres of roads were rehabilitated under the first phase of the project and that was financed by Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), IDA/World Bank and the government with an amount of 1.6 million euros.
Phase two of the project, which was launched on September 14, 2000 and ended in 2005, was financed by AFD and the government to the tune of 6.09 million euros.
The achievements chalked up by that phase of the project were that 2,855 hectares of rubber trees were planted instead of 2,800 hectares by the 500 outgrowers who were selected for that phase of the project.
A total of 20 kilometres of roads were rehabilitated.
A new company, Rubber Outgrowers and Agents Association (ROAA), was organised to become a major stakeholder in the rubber industry through a contract agreement with Institution and Development, a non governmental organisation.
Phase three of ROPP became operational in January, 2006 and it is being funded by the AFD, KFW and the government to the tune of 19.9 million euros.
The project would involve the selection of additional 1,750 outgrowers from the Western and Central regions to plant 7,000 hectares of rubber trees between 2006 and 2010.
A total of 1,250 outgrowers were selected from the Western Region to plant 5,000 hectares while 500 outgrowers were selected from the Central Region to plant 2,000 hectares of rubber trees.
The achievements of the third phase as of October 31, 2008 are that a total of 1,250 outgrowers have been assisted to plant 3,794.05 hectares of rubber in the Western Region while 500 outgrowers have been assisted to plant 1,081.45 hectares in the Central Region.
Cumulatively, 1,750 rubber outgrowers have been assisted to plant a total of 4,875.50 hectares in the Western and Central regions.
The financial operator of the whole project is the National Investment Bank Limited while the technical operator is the Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL).
Under the three phases of the project, a total number of 2,650 outgrower farmers have been assisted to plant 11,055 hectares of rubber at a total cost of 26.4 million euros while 688 outgrower farms involving 1,885.95 hectares are being tapped.
The socio-economic benefits of rubber plantations include diversification of agricultural products, increase in income levels for farmers and relatives, employment opportunities in the project area, thereby checking rural/urban drift and supplying raw materials to the local factories dealing with rubber products.
Other benefits include the boosting of rubber export, thus earning foreign currency for the country, participation of women in the project, thereby enhancing women economic emancipation, development of access roads in the operating communities to assist other farmers to transport their goods to the marketing centres and supplying rubber wood to the timber industry, thereby saving the scarce forest reserve.
Some weeks ago, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, paid a two-day working visit to the rubber plantations and nurseries as well as coconut seed gardens at Apemenim, Abura and Bonsaso, all in the Western Region.
The Managing Director of Ghana Rubber Estates Limited, Mr Marc Genot, who briefed the minister, said the AFD was ready to finance a fourth phase of the project with a new approach.
He said the fourth phase was under study and that it was expected that 3,750 farmers from the Western, Central and Eastern regions would be assisted to plant 15,000 hectares of rubber.
Mr Genot stated that rubber cultivation was spreading fast in the country as a result of exceptional cooperation between stakeholders in the industry, including the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, AFD, the outgrowers, banks and GREL.
He said the major risk for its stability was unfair competition and that the government, the financial operators and GREL would all lose if unfair competition started. He added that phase four of the project would depend on the position of the government.
The Director of the Outgrower Plantations Project, Mr Emmanuel Akwasi Owusu, mentioned some of the challenges facing the project whcih include disputes on land acquisition, socio-cultural problems, and conflicts of land use, that is, agriculture versus mining others are interest rate on loans granted to farmers, pest and diseases control, wind damage, fire outbreak, as well as oversubscription of the project.
The fact is that the development of rubber plantations in the Western Region would be fast if the outgrower farmers are motivated and encouraged by way of  granting them soft credit facilities and other inputs to boost production.
This will help increase the annual production of rubber for export and will also be seen as one of the leading foreign exchange earners for the country, apart from contributing to poverty alleviation, particularly in the rural farming communities in the country.
 

2 comments:

john said...

wafa mafo,

ineed your help to start arubber farming i am aus base ghana who is trying to come home with my family help

Unknown said...

Pleas i would like to start.and in which months can you start planting.can one also start with a 5 acres of land?and is it cost involved?thank you.