The efforts made by Rubber Board to increase Natural Rubber production by adopting rain-guarding techniques during monsoon season finally paid dividends with increased production in July. The natural rubber production in the country in July month was 60,000 tonnes, which is up by 14,000 tonnes from the same period last year.
In Kerala, the harvesting operations in rubber usually get disrupted in rainy months resulting in steep drop in production. Assaulted with a drastic fall in production during the last few years, the Rubber Board took some steps to ensure unbroken tapping during the monsoon period. Rain guarding materials like polythene sheets & adhesive in bulk were picked up by the Kerala board companies and then these were distributed among small growers to encourage rain guarding method. As a result, around 1 lakh hectares were rain guarded more than last year.
Drop in production of Natural Rubber was one of the major concerns in the sector. This is mainly attributed to high percentage of untapped area, low adoption of modern techniques like rain guarding & unscientific tapping methods. The present level of low price also has donated to this.
To address the issues related to untapped plantations, the board recently introduced a programme for acquiring of such units in the small holding sector. The board in association with its own companies & rubber producers would take over these untapped possessions and arrange for the maintenance, tapping, processing and marketing of produce. Around 1600 hectares of plantations have been adopted by Societies and companies during the last few months. This method has resulted in the reduction of cost of production and has increased the quantity and quality of the rubber produced.
