ISBN: - 978-93-88936-09-5 discussed and analysed in The Hand Book of Natural Rubber, published by the Rubber Research Institute in Kottayam. One important problem now faced by rubber economy of Kerala and elsewhere is the non-availability of skilled labourers. (3) The Hindu Business Line Dated on 16 October 2010 stated that, According to Tileke Ratne and Nugawela the use of rain guard enabled not only to maximize natural rubber production but also to reduce seasonal unemployment of rubber tappers. Lack of skilled tappers is considered as the emerging problem in smallholdings. (4) The Hindu Business Line Dated on 15 October 2010 stated that, According to Ng Kok Tee, labour shortage is one of the major problems behind the decline in natural rubber production in Malaysia. There is a move of production factors from agriculture sectors to other sectors and the shortage of labour has been accelerating this process. (5) Pushpa Rajah in one of his articles points out that Malaysia has given more importance to the innovations in labour saving techniques of rubber cultivation. He states that future of Malaysian rubber industry will brighten up only by making rubber cultivation a less labour-intensive system particularly in tapping. The study predicts that in the near future, the approach to rubber as a monocarp solely for latex will slowly phase out. Then rubber will be planted for the timber as a primary product and latex will be an important by- product. (6) Parthiban Gopal(2004) in his study “The Rubber Tappers’ Monthly Wage Issue and the impact of the Collective Agreement of 2003”, has made the following observations the legitimate quest for a guaranteed stable level of income for rubber tappers in Malaysia may have been delayed unduly because the solution was thought to lie in a monthly wage scheme. But on theoretical and practical grounds, a monthly wage scheme was inappropriate in an estate setting. This realization came only in 2003 when a guaranteed threshold income of Rs 35,000 a month was obtained within the context of the existing framework of payment. The threshold income, although not large, exceeds the poverty line income (per capita). However, it is better viewed as a guarantee of stable income in usual situations when weather, land yields and agronomy conspire to deny the tapper the usual level of earnings. To the extent that these situations will not arise frequently, and most households have at least two working members, the debate whether the threshold is sufficiently high or not may have less practical significance. Nonetheless, an important concession has been won from the employers and the Union can seek to improve on this in future negotiations. 39
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