KOCHI: At a time when rubber prices were ruling the roost in 2008, Renny Jacob of Kondooparampil,
Thankam Estate in Kanjirappally, Kottayam, did the unthinkable. He cut down the yielding rubber trees on his four-acre ancestral property and planted rambutan, the exquisite hairy fruit of Malaysian origin not much known in Kerala till then. People in Kanjirappally, the hub of rubber production in India, called it sheer madness. But destiny had something else in store for him.
Even in its prime, the maximum amount one can make out of rubber farming is Rs 60,000 per acre. Today, it is just Rs 30,000 an acre. On the other hand, Renny has been making 10 to 20 times more from rambutan per acre over the past four years - almost Rs 4 to 6 lakh per year. “I waited for five years to prove rambutan farming was not just for fun. Growing like mango and jackfruit in our climate, rambutan provides 10 times more profit,” Renny says.More than 26,000 kg of fruit was recently harvested from around 120 trees, with 360 degree round the crop - a national record this year. Even with a conservative price expectation of Rs 120 per kilo, the total income will be more than Rs 30 lakh!
“With seven years of experience, I can confidently declare rambutan as the most profitable crop in Kerala. No other crop will provide the kind of profit it gives,” says the farmer.