Rubber output seen up 4% despite low productivity

Despite having large acreage under low-yielding aged trees and resultant stagnant levels of productivity, India's natural rubber output is slated to grow 3.9 per cent to 8.84 lakh tonnes this year. “It is noteworthy that despite high prices and commercial introduction of improved clones, average yield expected this year is considerably below the level achieved even five years before,” the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) has observed.

While the country had notched up productivity of 1,903 kg a hectare in 2008, the current year's productivity is expected to be 1,800 kg – a growth of 16 kg for a hectare over last year. The unprecedented growth in rubber prices in the last couple of years has been the primary cause for the low productivity. With ailing high prices prevailing in the market, farmers have been averse to re-planting aged trees with new and high yielding clones, sources in the Rubber Board said. Moreover, it will take seven years for newly-planted saplings to be start yielding.

It was in 1979 that the country first introduced a subsidy scheme for promoting rubber new-planting, was followed by a popular integrated scheme launched in 1980. Consequently, there was a planting boom in the country during the 1980's and an estimated 46 per cent of the yielding trees are now in the 20-28 year category and another 13 per cent in the 29-31 year age group.

Farmers' postponement of replanting during the last couple of years, in response to high prices, has aggravated the unfavourable age profile further, the ANRPC said. The increasing focus on non-traditional regions has also contributed to the relatively low yields.

Consumption of natural rubber in India has also been slow this year. Consumption has grown by only 0.6 per cent in January and by 3.4 per cent in February. It is expected to grow 1.9 per cent during the first quarter of the current year. The slow growth in consumption is reflected in the slow growth in the truck and bus tyre segment.

While the auto tyre production in the country grew by 15 per cent in January, it fell 0.4 per cent in the truck and bus tyre segment, according to data provided by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association. It is the bus and truck tyre segment that accounts for the bulk of the natural rubber consumption in the country. Production of passenger cars rose by 25 per cent in January which was coupled with a fall in the production of truck and bus tyres. This is likely to bring down the consumption of natural rubber in the country and trigger a marked tilt in favour of consumption of synthetic rubber, ANRPC said.

Following the production trends of the last couple of years, global rubber production is slated to grow by 6.2 per cent to 10.06 million tonnes in 2011 as against 9.47 million tonnes in 2010. The growth last year was 6.4 per cent. The supply growth was mainly on account of expansion of yielding area by 2,03,000 hectares and productivity growth of 43 kg a hectare.

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