The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up the Plantation Corporation of Kerala Ltd. (PCKL) for incurring losses in its rubber and cashew plantations on account of poor management practices.
The CAG, who examined the performance of the PCKL from 2017-18 to 2021-22, observed that earnings from the rubber and cashew plantations dropped by ₹ 16.46 crore and ₹5.16 crore respectively between 2017-18 and 2020-21. The findings are part of the CAG’s Compliance Audit Report for the year that ended in March 2022, which was tabled in the Assembly last week.
Replantation
The CAG report is critical of the PCKL for not adopting good practices prevalent in the rubber sector. It urges the PCKL to adhere to Rubber Board recommendations in this regard and also frame a long-term action plan for replantation of trees.
“The PCKL failed to adopt the good practices advocated by the Rubber Board to reduce the cost of production, increase productive life of trees, and to manage tapping labour absenteeism. Failure of the PCKL to utilise annual census details to carry out replantation of rubber trees in a scientific manner resulted in an increase in area with old and senile trees,” the report said.
In the case of cashew plantations, the dip in receipts was largely on account of non-application of fertilizers and natural causes like unseasonal rain and high temperatures. “Application of fertilizer would have assisted the PCKL in getting better yield,” the report noted, adding that the State government had accepted the audit observation in this regard.
The report also observed that the PCKL had failed to adequately protect its plantations from wildlife incursions.
The PCKL accounts for 47.09% of the total plantations owned by public sector units in Kerala. The PCKL accounts for 2% of the total rubber plantation and 5.68% of cashew plantations in the State.
