Natural rubber production surges 23% in 2016-17

Chennai: Natural rubber (NR) production in India rose 23 per cent to 690,000 tonnes during 2016-17, as against the anticipated 654,000 tonnes. In 2015-16, the production stood at 562,000 tonnes, down 12.5 per cent as compared to 2014-15.
NR production also showed an increase of 66.7 per cent to 55,000 tonnes in March 2017, as against 33,000 tonnes in March last year. Rubber Board officials attributed the increase to the improved market price and initiatives taken by the Board at the field level, including mass contact programmes, to improve production and productivity.
Rubber Board is bringing more untapped areas into production by grouping farmers under ‘Tappers Bank’, which works more like a self-help group. The Board has launched this on a pilot basis, and 60 rubber-producing societies were identified for it.
The Board is seeking to achieve the current rubber demand of around 10 lakh tonnes by producing domestically.
NR exports from the country during the last financial year were 20,010 tonnes, whereas these were only 865 tonnes in the preceding year.
The branding of NR, initiated by the Rubber Board, has helped Indian exporters to claim their market share as the quality assurance helped boost buyers’ confidence, according to the Rubber Board. About 65 per cent of the NR exported was under the brand ‘Indian Natural Rubber’.