The Chairman of the Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission (KAPC) has suggested that the Centre consider increasing import duty on rubber to arrest the slide in the price of natural rubber. This followed a meeting of rubber growers with the Chairman of KAPC TN Prakash Kammardi in Mangaluru.

Rubber growers told him that import of rubber has affected the rubber growers in the country and suggested there is a need to ban the import at least increase the duty on it.

For this, Kammardi said that the Centre cannot ban the import of rubber as per the WTO guidelines.

However, it can increase the import duty on rubber considerably to help growers in the country. At present, natural rubber attracts import duty of 25 per cent. Rubber growers are urging the Centre to increase it at least to 70 per cent.

Urging growers not to rely only on the rubber crop, he suggested they should adopt multi-crop system.

P Gopalakrishna Bhat, office-bearer of the Karnataka Rubber Planters Association, informed the meeting that rubber is grown in around 50,000 hectares of land in six districts of Karnataka, and urged the Karnataka government to announce market support price for rubber crop as in Kerala.

Kammardi said the State government does not have a major role in controlling the price of rubber. The Rubber Board as well as the Centre play a crucial role in this matter.

Some growers informed the meeting that though the cost of cultivation of natural rubber is nearing ₹127 a kg in Karnataka, they are getting less than ₹100 a kg in the market. Considering the prevailing trend, there is a need to conduct a day-long workshop to discuss the expansion plans of plantations in Karnataka, he said.

Earlier in the day, rubber growers from Karnataka staged a protest in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Mangaluru, seeking solution from the government to their problems.

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