A parting glass

Long ago, Thomas Carlyle, told, " A man must get his happiness out of his work. His first of the many  problems is to find the work he is meant to do in the world. Without work he enjoys he can never know what happiness is." He then went on to coin his famous phrase, " Know thy work and do it." 

2020 took that joy out from us yet we believe we are blessed to be alive at the end of it. As the year take its leave, we rise our parting glass as a friend and brother, 

"Thank you for the lessons, 2020!"

Farm tourism around Munnar in trouble

Farm tourism that grew around Munnar and it's tourism is in trouble in these covid days. Farmers in places like Anchunadu, Marayur, Kanthallur, Vattavada had started growing fruits like apple, orange, plum, peach, guava, mosambi, passion fruit, tamarillo etc. and they used to get vistors to their farm even during off season. The farm fresh fruits were a delight which fetched some additional income for the farmers. The tea companies had let their workers grow oranges which went well for the tea shrubs growth, these oranges though small are very sweet and were a favourite among visitors. 

Solanum Betaceum  (Tamarillo) by C.T. Johansson

Licensed under a  CC BY-SA 3.0 License

The organic Marayur Jaggery which was made around the sugar cane fields of Kanthallur and Marayur has also lost its market. The worst hit, perhaps, among all are the strawberry farmers of Kanthallur and Vattavada, the flight restrictions have slowed down the export of these highly perishable fruits and no agents are turning up for their purchase nor do the farmers have the means to preserve them, pushing the farmers of the Devikulam taluk into deep trouble.  Strawberries need special care and attention unlike other fruits. Government's strawberry park in Munnar barely have any visitors during these slump months.

Low margins of OTAs

Online Travel Agents (OTA) offer discounts, cashbacks and flexible travel booking to survive the blow dealt by the pandemic. Needless to say the "offers" are squeezing their margins. 

Recently we saw EaseMyTrip, ClearTrip (airline ticketing agents), MakeMyTrip, SOTC, ixigo, Thomas Cook (wholesome trip providers) offering 50-60% discounts. These deals were possible only because all the key partners across the industry like carriers, hotels etc., who were also badly bitten by the pandemic induced slump were offering big discounts to survive. 

Though these offers had some positive impact mostly it was never more than 65% use of inventory. 

In airline ticket booking where 20% of the margin is linked with volumes there was not much to feel happy about especially when there were hardly any margin earlier too, as India is a low cost driven market. 

Hotel bookings are running at one third of the last year's, as guests are waiting to confirm the booking using the flexible booking option. 

Though the reliable McKinsey report on OTA says their structure and the variable costs involved help them to absorb the fluctuation it should not be forgotten travel industry, in general, is margin and volume driven without both they cannot offer the key partners a contract or commission for the services. 

With the changing situation let us hope a service provider will also find it convenient to stick to an OTA brand than a one sided chase by the OTAs to find and keep a service provider. 

It's Rubber, again!

 The rubber planters of Kerala are breathing a huge sigh of relief. After 7  years of misery the rubber price has gone up to Rs.165 per kilogram. During these years the price has gone so down, out of disappointment arising out of the inability to sustain the plantations many planters have cleared their plantations and sold the trees to timber traders and as firewood. The new surge in price is giving hope to the survivors. 

The big question that is playing on every planters mind is quite obvious, is this boom sustainable? The pandemic effect is certainly playing its part, delay in the shipment of the imported rubber, rise in shipment rates, non-availability of the shipment containers etc. has forced the local manufacturers to go back to the domestic rubber suppliers. Above all, the international rate for the rubber has gone up, at present the going rate at the Bangkok Market is Rs.186.90 per kilogram. 

The government decision to place tyre into restricted category list of import has helped the local suppliers as tyre manufacturers are the premium customers of the planters and they had a free run to import cheap raw rubber from the south east Asia all these years. Successive extreme climatic conditions, the attack of fungus and its fast spread has destroyed many a crop around the world which had a negative impact on the availability of rubber in the world market. 

With everything said, the experienced planters are limiting their sales keeping an eye on the international rubber price, knowing very well from their experience when the world market price is riding 15 to 20% above the local price they expect the local price to go above the global price within   a short time. 

Let us hope for the best for our planters as their surplus in the good years have flowed into tourism and have played its part in the infrastructure and destination development of Kerala.

Honey, a produce of the tribe

Those of us who favour and work for the promotion of tribal tourism and a better market for the produce of tribal communities will not be surprised by the sting report produced by the Centre for Science and Environment which states the wide spread sugar syrup adulteration of honey. Ten out of the thirteen popular brands which have been tested are selling impure honey whose content has sugar and honey syrup imported cheaply from China by the commercial manufacturers. 

Traditionally, honey is associated with health and wellness and is consumed by a large percentage of our population whose commercial value is the prime concern of the market sellers. Surprisingly, Food Safety Standards Authority Of India (fssai) who certifies the quality of food products sold in India is not applying the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) test which they use for honey exported for international markets for locally supplied forest produce. This lapse give the registered commercial companies a golden opportunity to tap the market to their own advantage. 

Ideally, the honey requirement of the nation ought to be met by the tribes who collect it. The tribal welfare department and trifed (Govt. Marketing agency for tribal produce) are trying to help and promote the produce of our indigenous people, so that they too make a decent living.