Baripada, March 26: A small pilot project of the Rubber Board, which was undertaken way back in 1993, has come a long way.

Rubber plantation in Mayurbhanj district has scripted a success story by bringing a sea change in the socio-economic status of the local residents, who are mostly from the tribal community.

Rubber plantations have positively impacted their livelihood and has also turned barren patches of land highly productive.

Till 2013, rubber was being cultivated over just 1,400 acres of land. Within three years, the plantation area has increased by another 5,000 acres due to the aggressive approach of the district administration by converging a number of government schemes.

The Rubber Board has provided the farmers ample exposure and helped them by imparting technical know-how. At present, around 4,000 tribal farmers are directly involved in the plantations.

"There has been a positive impact of rubber plantation in the district. The tribal community were depending only on paddy cultivation or collection of forest produce. Now, they are able to earn Rs 75,000 to Rs 90,000 every year from each acre," said district collector Rajesh Pravakar Patil.

"Rubber is non-perishable and its cultivation is long term and sustainable, which are key advantages. Besides, for marketing their produce, we have taken certain measures. Discussions were held with Birla Tyres, a private tyre producing company," said Patil.

The district collector added that the farmers were imparted scientific training and were taken to Kerala and Tripura where there are a large number of rubber plantations.

The impact of rubber cultivation on socio-economic life of the local residents is evident from the fact that every household has satellite TVs, motorcycles and various other modern gadgets.

Sukhram Singh of Kendubadi, Jitwan Singh of Jadunathpur and Ramesh Singh of Madhupur are farmers who had initially evinced interest in the cultivation. They have now become role model in their respective villages. They are now in the process of guiding their fellow farmers to take up rubber cultivation.

"Rubber plantations have proved to be a big boon for us. It is a lucrative affair. Now, we can afford higher studies of our children, be it medical, engineering or management courses," said Prakash Soren, a tribal leader.

Rubber plantation is currently pursued mainly at Jadunathpur in Badsahi block, Kendubadi in Shamakhunta block and Kumargadia in Morada block. Two rubber processing units have also been set up in the district.

The district's climate is moderately conducive to rubber plantations.

In some patches, rubber is already being produced while in some others, it is in the process of harvest. A rubber plant takes around seven years to yield.

The farmers here are also engaged in intercropping.

"It is being undertaken in the highland patches and in the foothill villages around Similipal Wildlife Sanctuary. These patches were almost barren but that is a thing of the past," said the project assistant of Baripada Integrated Tribal Development Agency, Brahmananda Behera.

"The rubber plantation in 6,000 acres of land has added to the green cover of the district," said Bibhudatta Das, an environment activist.