Adverse weather hits natural rubber production leading to shortage, says board

Adverse weather conditions have resulted in the production loss of natural rubber and its shortage in the domestic market. Heavy rains caused a significant reduction in tapping days, especially in the traditional areas and many growers could not rain-guard trees on time, said Rubber Board Executive Director M Vasanthagesan.

Quoting the statistics for the 2023-24 season, he said the production was 857,000 tonnes against a consumption demand of 14,16,000 tonnes. Imports were 4,92,682 tonnes and exports were 4,199 tonnes. This indicates that the demand for natural rubber will increase in the coming years. The Board implemented schemes to help achieve the goal of producing sufficient rubber for domestic consumption in the country, he said.

He said the automobile industry registered positive growth and it has favoured increasing the demand for natural rubber in the tyre manufacturing sector. The major consumers usually import required quantities during the rainy season to compensate for the insufficiency of raw materials in the domestic market. But in this season, the international trade also faced difficulties due to the shortage of containers and in turn impacted the rubber imports, the Rubber Board official said.

Collaboration urged

Despite the recent surge in natural rubber prices, Vasanthagesan said the Board is committed to ensuring the availability for consumers through suitable strategies by bringing sustainable solutions to both primary producers and consumers.

He urged farmers to tap rubber from their trees on all possible days to ensure the availability of maximum quantity of natural rubber in the domestic market.

Growers and Rubber Producers’ Societies can collaborate to promote harvesting in the untapped holdings to take advantage of better prices by bringing the commodity into the market. The continuous supply of rubber will benefit the farmers and consumers alike, M.Vasanthagesan, Executive Director, Rubber Board said.

The Rubber Board companies engaged in contract tapping can also contribute significantly to increasing natural rubber production, he told reporters in Kottayam.

Centre’s scheme

The Rubber Board chief’s appeal assumes greater significance particularly when the consuming industry is demanding duty free imports in the wake of shortage in the market.

The Union Government has sanctioned a scheme of Rs999.86 crore for 2023-24 to 2025-26 with a view to holistic and sustainable growth of the natural rubber sector. Out of this, the allocation for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 is Rs291.17 crore, Rs348.38 crore and Rs360.31 crore respectively.

The traditional rubber-growing areas, especially Kerala, contribute the lion’s share of natural rubber production in the country. The Centre gives due importance to the scheme to provide necessary assistance to improve rubber production in traditional areas.