Stretching rubber production potential in Northeast

The proposed establishment of three nodal centres of the National Institute of Rubber Training (NIRT) in Agartala, Guwahati, and Nagaland is good news for rubber growers in the northeast region. These centres will impart training in product manufacture and quality control to promote MSMEs in the rubber sector in the region. Consumption of rubber by local manufacturers can be expected to boost demand and assure growers a better price. The central government has planned to train 10,700 individuals, including 3,800 in the region, over the next two financial years, 2024–25 and 2025–26, which is reflective of the region being a focused area under the proposed initiatives to boost rubber production and manufacturing in the country. Mobilisation of rubber growers into rubber producer societies is another strategy adopted by the government to improve price realization for the rubber produced by growers in the country. Tripura is the second-largest natural rubber producer after Kerala in the country and accounts for 9% of total production. The consumption of rubber has increased manifold in India over the past nearly 17 years, from 8.01 lakh metric tonnes in 2005–06 to 13.50 lakh metric tonnes in 2022-23. The import dependence of the country has also increased nearly 12 times, from 45,285 metric tonnes to 5,28,677 metric tonnes, while exports declined from 73,830 metric tonnes to 3,700 metric tonnes during this period. Tyre manufacturing companies are the largest consumers of natural rubber in the country, accounting for nearly 70% of total consumption. The growth of the automobile industry has led to an increase in the consumption of natural rubber. The industry estimates that the revenue of the Indian tyre industry is poised to increase from 9 billion US dollars in 2022 to 22 billion US dollars in 2032, with significant growth in vehicle demand driven by accelerated infrastructure growth. This brings new opportunities for boosting natural rubber production in both traditional and new areas. The Rubber Board has set the target of expanding rubber-growing areas in the northeast region to two lakh hectares by 2025. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce pointed out in one of its reports that the cost of rubber production is the lowest in the northeastern region, which gives the region an edge in attracting rubber product manufacturers. The committee also found that only 30% of sheet rubber produced in Tripura is graded due to the dearth of smoke houses and recommended the allocation of a separate fund for the establishment of smoke houses in the region to boost quality rubber production. The government plans to support the construction of 18 group processing centres to ensure the quality and standardisation of rubber sheets in the Northeast and non-traditional regions. The Indian Natural Rubber Organisation Assisted Development (INROAD) project launched by the Rubber Board in the region facilitates providing planting materials free of cost to growers and other benefits to boost production through the expansion of the area under rubber. Rubber nurseries from Kerala, grappling with a decline in demand in the southern state, have already started moving to the northeast region to supply planting materials under the INROAD project. This is indicative of the potential of the northeastern region to become a new hub of the rubber production and consumption industry, which must not be missed by the states in the region. The National Rubber Policy of 2019 states that the existence of a domestic rubber product manufacturing industry capable of consuming the entire natural rubber produced in the country and the availability of vast areas in non-traditional regions suitable for rubber cultivation are major strengths of the Indian rubber sector. The adverse impact of climate change, saturation of area for new planting in traditional regions, agro-climatic, topographic, social, cultural, institutional, and infrastructure constraints in non-traditional regions, global price volatility and low-price situations, and their repercussions on production, lack of competitiveness, and stagnation in the growth of the non-tyre rubber manufacturing sector are some of the challenges the industry needs to overcome. These challenges need to be factored in while rolling out plans, schemes, and projects for the northeastern region to ensure sustainable growth in the sector. The policy also emphasises that while sustained production and price support are critical to protecting the incomes of rubber farmers, the rubber product manufacturing sector is at the centre of growth in the value chain in the rubber sector and therefore needs specific focus. Lessons must be learned from the crisis of falling prices gripping lakhs of small-holding rubber growers in Kerala. The sustainability of rubber development, especially with growers having a predominantly smallholding, would face a perilous situation if market uncertainties caused by drastic price falls persist for a long time, cautions the policy. Safety nets for growers in the Northeast, including price stability, will be a crucial factor determining the sustainability of rubber expansion in the region. Boosting MSME growth in the region in natural rubber product manufacturing will help build resilience for rubber growers. Procurement of raw materials from growers in the region will also increase commercial viability for local manufacturers, provided graded sheet rubber is available to meet their demand.