Jakarta – Rubber tree growers in North Barito, Central Kalimantan have started focusing on their corn crop business after the sharp decline in the price of rubber in the global market.

"We start planting corn in 2014 when the rubber price dropped drastically," said North Barito Regent Nadalsyah on Sunday as quoted by tempo.co, adding that the corn crop business could replace rubber, which had been the regency's main commodity.

In 2013, the price of rubber reached US$5.70 per kilogram, but the price has dropped to less than $1 per kilogram.

Nadalsyah said the opening of corn plantations had managed to improve the welfare of the people in the regency and they no longer relied on the rubber plantations to earn a living. "The corn plantations managed to improve the people's economy," he added.

The regent said that in 2014, the regency had opened about 5 hectares of corn plantations, and now there were 32,000 hectares of corn fields. He added that the regency aimed to have 50,000 hectares of corn fields.

Nadalsyah said farmers could sell corn to the neighboring regencies or to South Kalimantan province, where there were livestock feed factories that used corn.

"So there is no problem selling the commodity," he said, adding that the North Barito administration would help farmers to expand their corn fields to increase production because it could improve their welfare. (bbn)

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/06/24/rubber-tree-growers-turn-to-corn-as-price-drops.html