Rising temperature and high cost of production are likely to take the sheen away from the Kerala rubber industries, known as the haven for rubber production in the country. Interestingly, the gainers will be the North East region lead by Tripura.
Currently, Kerala accounts for 85% of the total rubber production in the country. The total area under rubber cultivation in Kerala is 5.45 lakh ha, which is the livelihood of about 10.50 lakh farmers. Tripura is the second largest rubber producer with 72,000 ha of land under plantation, producing 40,000 tonnes of rubber annually.
The Rubber Board has a mandate to cultivate rubber on 141,000 ha of land in North East India.
Meanwhile, it was noted that North East India is immune to temperature increase.
It is estimated that the cost of cultivating a rubber plant up to 7 years in Kerala is 4,20,595; in North East is 2,26,358. The Kerala rubber sector workers are paid 350 per day; those in the North East get 250.
Kerala had faced similar these issues in the past, but hurdled the the problem by increasing the area under cultivation and using high-yielding varieties.
The Rubber Research Institute of India (RRI) has also identified 4,50,000 ha suitable for rubber cultivation in the North East, including 1,00,000 ha in Tripura. About 1,03,500 ha of land is under rubber cultivation in northeastern states, including Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, producing 46,000 tonnes of rubber annually.