The Rubber Board has signed an agreement with Gujarat’s Navsari Agricultural University to assess the viability of rubber cultivation in the region of south Gujarat.
The MoU was signed by Jessy, M.D., Director (Research), Rubber Board, and TR Ahlawat, Director of Research, Navsari Agricultural University in the presence of KN Raghavan, Executive Director, Rubber Board, and ZP Patel, Vice-Chancellor, Navsari Agricultural University.
One hectare of rubber plantation will be established on the university’s Peria farm, and pilot trials will be launched in 13 university research farms for evaluation in the region’s various agro-climatic conditions.
Rubber Board is working hard to expand the area under natural rubber in the country in order to increase production.
Its consumption in the country has steadily increased over the last decade, and the growth of the NR consuming industry, particularly the tyre manufacturing sector, has created a significant gap between NR produced and consumed in India.
The shortfall caused by the gap between production and consumption is filled by NR imports worth Rs 7,500 crore in 2021-22.
Rubber is grown on 8.27 lakh hectares in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, West Bengal, Goa, Maharashtra, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh in India.
India is the world’s second-largest consumer of natural rubber, with an annual consumption of around 1.2 million tonnes that is expected to rise in the coming years.