Rubber Agroforestry and Smallholder Tapping in Pathanamthitta

Pathanamthitta district is a major rubber-growing region in Kerala's midlands zone, where smallholder farmers maintain rubber gardens averaging 1–2 hectares on undulating laterite terrain. Traditional tapping using the herringbone system — a V-shaped cut on the bark renewed every few days — collects latex in ceramic cups attached to the tree. Smallholders coagulate the latex with formic acid, sheet it through hand rollers, and smoke it in family-owned smokehouses to produce RSS (ribbed smoked sheets). Pathanamthitta's rubber economy has supported a prosperous rural middle class for generations, though volatile global prices and labour costs now threaten its viability for the next generation.