“Being a state of high literacy and abundant skilled manpower, Kerala should try to settle disputes amicably,” he said. The governor was speaking after inaugurating the platinum jubilee conference of the Association of Planters of Kerala (APK) here on Thursday.

This should be done in the interest of all the parties, rather than wasting a lot of time and money on long-pending cases. There are various forums, like ‘lok adalats’ and conciliation committees, to facilitate the settlement of disputes. Both the workers and the managements should utilise the services of such bodies,” Sathasivam pointed out.

“The plantation industry is currently passing through a very difficult phase, due to issues like climate change and paucity of new venues for expansion. Such issues should be addressed on a war-footing, considering the overall benefit of the sector that is contributing an estimated `18,000 crore to Kerala’s GDP. The State’s plantation sector employs 12 lakh people, of which over 50 per cent is women. It is impossible to exclude the sector from the day-to-day life of the people of the country,” he added.

KDHP Pvt Ltd chairman Percy Siganporia in his special address said that the existing concept of mono-crop should to be done away with, and that at least five per cent leeway should be allowed to plantation companies for diversification and inter-cropping.

UPASI president Vijayan Rajes, HML director P Rajagopalan, APK chairman Gilbert D’ Souza, C Vinayaraghavan and Cherian M George also spoke.