Kerala man’s Arabica strategy is boosting income of rubber farmers

Roy Antony, a farmer from Wayanad has ignited a movement aimed at reshaping the fortunes of rubber farmers in Kerala and boosting their income. Being a rubber farmer for all these years, this 48-year-old resident of Pulpally in Wayanad has been facing numerous challenges, from fluctuating market prices to unpredictable weather patterns.

His quest to overcome these challenges led him to break free and introduce a transformative concept to find an additional income source from rubber plantations. After months of trial and error, he found a perfect solution: cultivating coffee as an intercrop.

“I started farming Arabica coffee as an intercrop in my 20-acre rubber plantation. The results have been a success. I have launched my own special variety of coffee powder after harvesting the crops,” Roy Antony told “Open Digest.”

The success inspired Roy Antony to launch a movement to spread the message about the cultivation of Arabica coffee as an intercrop to other rubber farmers. Roy Antony also started a retail network to sell the premium coffee product made from the freshly harvested coffee beans. “The benefits of this dual-crop system are two-fold: it creates an additional source of income and improves the overall sustainability of rubber farming,” Roy Antony said.

He has so far been able to help hundreds of rubber farmers in Kerala to take up coffee cultivation as an intercrop. He also buys their produce for making the premium coffee powder and sell it through his retail network.

“I am really happy that I could help the rubber farmers. In fact, we are planning to expand our retail network of the coffee powder so that we can buy more coffee beans from the farmers,” he said. In fact, Roy Antony’s innovative approach serves as a beacon of hope for rubber farmers, offering a sustainable and prosperous future.