Kottayam: The Rubber Board, under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, has signed a MoU with the Department of Agricultural Development and Farmers’ Welfare under the Kerala Government for the KERA (Kerala Climate Resilient Agri-Value Chain Modernisation) project, to be implemented with World Bank assistance from 2025 to 2029.
The MoU was signed by the Rubber Board Executive Director, M Vasanthagesan, IRS and the Additional Project Director of the KERA project and the Director of Industries & Commerce Department, P Vishnuraj IAS, at the Rubber Research Institute of India in Kottayam. In the function, a MoU was also signed with the Spices Board for the KERA project. The MoU was signed by the Director, Dr. Rema Shree A B, on behalf of the Spices Board. The training programme for the officials related to the implementation of the KERA project was also inaugurated by Vasanthagesan.
Under this scheme, farmers engaged in rubber and cardamom cultivation will get financial assistance of Rs 75,000 per hectare for rubber cultivation and Rs 1,00,000 for cardamom for a maximum of two hectares each. Rubber farmers in six districts, namely Kottayam, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Kannur, Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram and cardamom farmers in Idukki district will benefit from this scheme.
Dr Siju T (Rubber Production Commissioner), Dharmendra Das (Director, Development in-charge, Spices Board), Suresh C (Procurement Officer, KERA) and Shylaja K (Joint Rubber Production Commissioner) were among those present.