Wokha, November 19 (MTNews): The book “Economics of Rubber Plantation in Nagaland” written by Dr. N. Rentnungo Patton was launched by Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Y. Patton of Nagaland.
Y. Patton at the book launch ceremony on November 18 at the Mt. Tiyi College Boys Hostel, Wokha congratulated the author on the book’s successful publication and expressed confidence that the state’s citizens will be immensely benefited from it.
In Nagaland, according to Patton, rubber plantations have played an integral part in the economic upliftment of the people and in ensuring their economic sustenance. He added that rubber farming is another alternative form of agriculture which has the potential to boost the economy and also create employment opportunities for the youths and sustain one’s livelihood.
Further, he added that the Government is trying all possible means in helping the rubber growers by way of providing various types of machinery to help in their endeavor and urged them to utilize the assistance judiciously as the objective of the Government is to uplift them in their venture.
Dr. N. Renthungo Patton, the author of the book while giving a summary of the book said the it was an extract from his doctoral thesis titled “Economics of Rubber Plantation in Nagaland: a case study of Wokha and Mokokchung districts” which he completed under the guidance and supervision of Prof. T. Zurenthung Ezung. He added that, however, the book speaks not just for the two districts but for the whole Nagaland.
According to the author, the book tries to analyze rubber plantations and their impact on the local economy of the state. The book reveals that rubber farming is more economically viable in the study area, and with the right support system, rubber plantation has the potential to provide a sustainable source of livelihood to the rubber farmers and further boost the local economy.
The author also added that the potentiality of rubber farming being at its nascent stage is still not fully realized and recommended some appropriate policy measures to be adopted for the benefit of the rubber growers such as the rubber board/government giving effective extension service for proper management of rubber plantation by organizing extensive training camps for farmers in the state, awareness programs for market intelligence of the rubber farmers and so on.
He further suggested that the Government should introduce a minimum support price for farmers in the state to offset the loss incurred particularly during the fall in the price of rubber products in the market.
According to him, proper markets should be set up in all rubber growing districts to facilitate the farmers to dispose off their products with low transportation cost. For rubber farming to be profitable there is a greater need to formulate appropriate policies, he further added.