Farmers need to be innovative to stay afloat in the market, and this family from Kerala, led by 72-year-old woman farmer Mercy Chacko, has scripted a remarkable success by turning their declining rubber plantation into a thriving hub for flowers and other crops. Battling the plummeting prices of rubber, Mercy Chacko of Bharananganam in Kottayam decided to experiment with alternative farming, and her efforts have paid off beyond expectations.
The journey began when the family allocated 50 cents of their four-acre rubber plantation to grow marigold flowers. What started as an experiment quickly blossomed into a profitable venture, particularly during Onam, when the demand for marigold skyrocketed. Encouraged by the success, the family decided to take a bold step—felling nearly an acre of rubber trees to expand the cultivation of other crops.
“We have realised that there is no point in holding onto rubber cultivation. When we consider the input costs for rubber cultivation, it’s not so profitable now compared to a decade ago. Also, the highly fluctuating market price of rubber has been hurting rubber farmers for quite a long time. When my mother decided to experiment with marigold farming, we gave her full support, and it turned out to be a huge success,” said Nidhin C Vaddakkan, son of Mercy Chacko.
After marigold cultivation turned out to be a big hit, the family is now into Chinese potato and banana cultivation on the one-acre land. The income from these ventures has not only surpassed the earnings from rubber but also brought vibrancy and ecological diversity to the land. “There are a lot of takers for farm produce that are grown without using any pesticides or chemicals. In the long run, we are planning to fell rubber trees in the remaining land and cultivate different types of vegetables and flowers,” Nidhin added.
