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Considering the impact of the Kerala floods on rubber production,, the Rubber Board has submitted a ₹247-crore relief package to the Centre to compensate for the losses caused to the sector.
According to D Anandan, Chairman and Secretary, Rubber Board, the damages are in the form of tree loss, income loss, wage loss etc as the floods have had a significant impact on overall production.
The sector had suffered a lot due to loss in tapping days and abnormal leaf fall after the deluge, which may impact production in the 2018-19 season. The Board has estimated a production drop of around 1.37 lakh tonnes. Total production through the year could be around six lakh tonnes.
He was here to announce the 4th edition of the India Rubber Meet at Kochi on October 30 and 31.
Asked on the trend in prices, the Chairman said external factors such as an increase in global rubber production, rise in crude oil prices, subdued demand for natural rubber in China, weak revival of the US economy etc are pulling down prices. However, he is bullish on the price front, saying that studies by several international agencies have projected a revival in prices in the short term.
On the Rubber Meet, Anandan said it is a major initiative of the Indian rubber industry to organise a regular forum for interaction, networking and exchange of information. The theme this year is ‘Towards a sustainable rubber value chain’.
Critical conditions such as depressed raw-material prices, declining product sales, an economic slowdown, speculative factors, global warming and so on are affecting the sustainability of rubber and related sectors. The last three rubber meets could create a strong platform of stakeholder associations to formulate appropriate strategies for ensuring balanced and sustained growth of the rubber industry, he added.
There has been an encouraging response from the grower community on participating in the meet and about 227 small and medium growers have registered against the Board's target of 200, he added.
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