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Rubber Board has submitted a proposal to the Centre, highlighting the potential of rubber cultivation in areas affected by extremist activities in the country.
In an informal chat with mediapersons on the sidelines of a meeting of rubber growers in Mangalore on Thursday, Sheela Thomas, Chairperson of Rubber Board, said the Board has proposed cultivation of rubber in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
Rubber is predominantly grown in Kerala. Tripura and Karnataka are also producing good amount of rubber. Tripura is the second largest producer of rubber, she said. Rubber cultivation is promoted in some parts of Maharashtra also, she said.
NurseryTo a query on the proposal to set up a nursery-cum-demonstration plantation in Dakshina Kannada region, she said the Rubber Board has written to the Karnataka Government seeking about 150 acres of land for the purpose.
Such a nursery will help meet the plant requirements of growers. Rubber Board can also showcase good agricultural practices, if there is a demonstration area, she said.
Karnataka proposalRubber producers’ societies in Karnataka have stressed the need for forming a State-level organisation to ensure better control over the market.
Participating in a meeting of the consortium of such societies in Mangalore on Thursday, Gopalakrishna Bhat, a representative of a rubber producers’ society from Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, said that rubber is grown in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shimoga, Chikmagalur and Kodagu districts of Karnataka, and 75 rubber producers’ societies are working in the State.
Around 50,000 hectares of land is under rubber cultivation in Karnataka, producing around 40,000 tonnes of rubber a year.
The formation of a State-level organisation will ensure fair and remunerative prices and address various issues faced by rubber growers, Bhat said.
NS Bhandary, president of the Rubber Planters’ Association, Mangalore, said the price of rubber, which was ₹21 a kg during 1991, went up to ₹255 a kg four years ago. The price has again come down now.
Cutting the rubber trees down is not the solution when prices come down. Rubber growers have to be prepared for the ups and downs in the market, he said.
Sheela Thomas presided over the meeting.
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