Assam ranks third in natural rubber plantations, scope for expansion grows

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Assam occupies the third position in the production of natural rubber in the country. The state has immense potential for the expansion of rubber plantations. If the state government shows its interest in expansion, the Rubber Board of India is ready to extend all sorts of help, including the setting up of rubber parks.

M. Vasanthagesan, the Executive Director of the Rubber Board of India, stated that the farmers in Assam and other Northeastern states are sparsely planting rubber plants. If rubber plantations go in clusters, training farmers, setting up processing units, and providing marketing facilities will be easier. The Tyre Manufacturing Association has a target of rubber plantations on two lakh hectares of land in the region. The association has started extending financial and other assistance, besides providing skill training.”

When a team of journalists from Assam visited Rubber Board and Rubber Research Institute of India offices in Kottayam recently, Vasanthagesan said that Rubber Board provides financial assistance for planting, along with incentives and schemes for developing small rubber holdings. It was the PIB that took the journalists to Kottayam from Assam. At present, rubber is cultivated on around 51,000 hectares of land in Assam, leading to the production of 25,000–30,000 tons of rubber annually. Karbi Anglong, Goalpara, Kamrup, and Karimganj are the main rubber-producing areas in Assam.

“Assam needs to tap the untapped potential for boosting rubber production and generate more livelihood avenues. The availability of vast tracts of unutilized wastelands in the Northeast is another virtue for boosting rubber production. The problem with providing training and facilities lies in the fact that these rubber holdings have been sparsely distributed. The plantation of the first genetically modified samples of rubber began in Assam,” he said.

Vasanthagesan said that rubber can be used for tire and non-tire products. Gloves, valves, flaps, bonding gums, soles of shoes, etc., are some of the non-tire products obtained from rubber, he said. If the state governments show interest, they can set up rubber parks that will give rise to the dotting up of ancillary industries.

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