A consortium of Karnataka Rubber Producers’ Societies came into being here on Thursday.
After inaugurating the consortium, Rubber Board chairperson Sheela Thomas said Karnataka had the potential to emerge as the second largest producer of rubber in the country after Kerala. Karnataka could replace Tripura, which occupies the second position now, she told a gathering of rubber growers.
Ms. Thomas said the board had proposed to open a regional office in Belthangady and it was awaiting the Union government’s approval. There was also a demand by growers to open a regional office in Shimoga. In the State, the board’s regional offices are in Mangalore, Puttur and Kundapur.
She said that fluctuation in the price of rubber was not alarming in the past decade when compared to that during 1994–95. Variation in the price was like a cycle, she said.
Ms. Thomas said that formation of the consortium was the need of the hour and the plans before the consortium were workable.
A national rubber policy was on the anvil and the Union government had set up a committee for drafting it.
J. Thomas, Rubber Production Commissioner, cautioned growers against handing over their plantations on contract to “outsiders” for tapping latex and selling it. He said that there had been instances in Kundapur where contractors had applied a chemical to rubber trees to get more latex. As a result, the trees died in three or four years against their lifespan of 30 to 40 years, he said. He said that rubber growers who wait patiently for seven years after planting to start tapping latex could award contract to a group formed by the consortium.
Gopalakrisna Bhat, president, Rubber Producers’ Society, Vitla, who spoke about the consortium, said there were 75 rubber producers’ societies in the State which had about 60,000 growers as members. He said only about 50 per cent of growers had become members of societies.
He said the consortium could be converted into a cooperative society, a company or a body under the Souharda Act of the government for the welfare of rubber growers. Mr. Bhat said the State had 50,000 hectares under rubber with an annual production of 40,000 tonnes.