Guwahati, Oct. 17: The Rubber Board is eyeing fresh plantation on 50,000 hectares in Assam in the next three years.
"We consider Assam as the core area of expansion as only one third of the production area in the state has been tapped so far. The remaining two-thirds will be tapped in the next three years," the board's chairman, A. Ajithkumar, said on the sidelines of the 9th annual rubber conference of the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries here today.
In Tripura, the other major rubber-producing state of the Northeast, about 65,000 hectares, out of the 75,000 hectares, are under cultivation.
"Skill development is a focus area for which we have collaborated with the Rubber Skill Development Council to design a skills upgrade programme in the plantation and processing sectors of Kerala, Tripura and Assam," Ajithkumar said.
For Assam, the board has prepared a Rs 1-crore project to develop skills for plantation workers and latex processors. "The project, which aims to enhance productivity standards and maximise grower returns, was based on a discussion with the state additional chief secretary a month back and the report will be handed over to Assam government and the skill development council by this week itself," he said.
The total production area in the Northeast is three lakh hectares but only 30 per cent has been exploited so far.
"The Northeast currently produces 75,000 metric tonnes of rubber. The Board plans to enhance the output to 1.2 lakh metric tonnes in the next three years. Assam currently produces 17,000 metric tonnes rubber across 16,000 hectares. Another 16,000 hectares may come into the tapping area in the next three years," the chairman said. The board has for the first time released a new rubber clone, RRII 208, developed by Rubber Research Institute of India for exclusive cultivation in the Northeast, here today. The clone is tolerant to abnormal leaf fall disease, cold stress and wind damage.
The board is adopting a cluster-based approach to take the sector forward in Assam. There are about six rubber producing societies in Assam with processing centres. "Now we are looking at scaling up the number of such societies as group activity will have an impact on quality and enhance the production," Ajithkumar said.
"We have identified five locations across Goalpara, Udalguri and Kokrajhar to set up primary producer centres wherein the latex can be brought and converted into sheets. The project will be handed over to the state industry commissioner in a day or two. The Assam government has agreed to finance 90 per cent cost of the centres (each costing Rs 28 lakh with machinery), which will take about six months for completion," the chairman said.
On the dearth of industries for utilisation of the raw material produced, the chairman said the board was contemplating hosting rubber industry stakeholders' meets to attract investors to set up firms in the Northeast.
