Rains, Disease Affects Rubber Production

Kottayam: There has been a 50 per cent decline in rubber output this year in major rubber producing areas such as Pala and Kanjirappally due to vector-borne diseases such as chikungunya and other fevers in plantation areas in the State. The findings of a survey conducted by the Rubber Board to assess the crop loss due to the fever in rubber holdings in the April-June period are yet to be finalised. The board's officers throughout the State visited 2,500 holdings and collected the data for the survey, which comprising loss of tapping days, loss of wages for labourers and crop loss during the period.