The proposed Karnataka Rubber Planter’s Association (KRUPA) that is being set up to discuss and suitably mitigate rubber growers’ in the state woes will be formally set up at Puttur near here on September 5. A conference of rubber growers’ of the state for which officials of Rubber Board have been invited will mark the inaugural of the association, where the office bearers will be formally elected to get its activities up and running.
Col N Sharath Bhandary (retired), president, Regional Rubber Planters’ Association, Puttur told reporters here that KRUPA will fulfil a long standing demand of the rubber growers in the state, who at present do not have any organisation to unite them, and cohesively and aggressively articulate their problems and needs either with state or central governments. The association is being set up at a time when rubber prices have crashed, he said.
P Gopalakrishna Bhat, president, organising committee said India’s annual demand of rubber is about 15 lakh tonnes, out of which demand of natural rubber is about 10 lakh tonnes. During 2013-14, India produced 8.44 lakh tonnes natural rubber while 3.25 lakh tonnes was imported. Imported natural rubber is steadily increasing for it was 81545 tonnes in 2008-09 and has touched 2.03 lakh tonnes in the first four months of the current fiscal.
Import of cheap and inferior quality rubber from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia under various trade agreements is hurting prospects of India rubber growers, he said, adding the association will urge the union government to hike import duties and other statutory levies on rubber, as well as seek its reclassification as an industrial input rather than horticultural cash crop for trade agreements prohibit higher taxation on horticultural crops.