ISRO’s former chairman, G. Madhavan Nair, said that advanced technology can also help in identifying the type of blight that affects rubber trees, Nair said, while inaugurating the ‘India Rubber Meet’ at Le Meridian in Kochi on Wednesday.
Natural rubber will be relevant in future as well, said Nair, the chairman of the Centre for Management Development. India, however, has to take measures to increase its competiveness in the global rubber market by raising productivity, manufacturing value-added products and implementing mechanisation. Markets will be less protected in future, he added.
He released a book published by the Rubber Board, ‘Rubber Producers’ Society – 25 Years in Retrospective’, by giving a copy to Malaysian Rubber Board Director General Dr Salmiah Ahmad.
Rubber Board Chairman Dr A Jayatilak said the Indian rubber sector found its strength in the correlation between production and the increasing pace of the industries. Meets such as the one in Kochi would help bring together people who work in various levels in the rubber sector, he said.
World Bank Development Prospects Group senior economist Dr John Baffes, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development assistant programme director Frank Grothaus and Tata Strategic Management Group principal consultant CharuKapppr also spoke.
Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries secretary-general Sheela Thomas, International Rubber Study Group secretary-general Dr. Stephen Evans, International Rubber Research and Development Board secretary-general Dr. Abdul Aziz and Guatemala’s GrupoAgroindustrial de Occidente manager Gunther Lottmann took part in the discussions.
The meet ends on Thursday.