Dr. K.N. Raghavan, Executive Director, Rubber Board, inaugurated the Rubber Board campaign on 'Resurgence in rubber for Aatmanirbhar Bharath' to increase rubber production and productivity of rubber holdings. Dr. K.N. Raghavan in his inaugural address said that rubber growers should increase in production and productivity in the rubber holdings to make India self-sufficient in rubber for domestic requirements. Presently, India's rubber production is less than consumption. Tyre and non-tyre sectors show relatively significant growth rates. An increase in rubber consumption in the coming days may lead to large scale imports. The gap between production and consumption must be bridged by all possible means to avoid this situation. Growers should take immediate care in implementing the long term and short term strategies proposed by the Board to increase rubber production, he added.

The mass contact programme on 'Resurgence in rubber for Aatmanirbhar Bharath' will commence on 25 October. The meetings and the training programmes as a part of the campaign will be continued up to March 2022. Meetings are arranged in the traditional rubber areas and the Northeastern regions. Board is expected to contact 50,000 farmers through 2500 meetings arranged across the country during this period through physical/ online meetings in strict compliance with the Covid 19 protocol.

The Rubber Board proposes many strategies for production and productivity enhancement. New planting and replanting for extension of rubber cultivation, replanting of old and senile plantations with high yielding clones, planting of suitable clones in the available areas of Northeastern regions etc. are the long term plans of the Board to increase NR production in the country. The Board has already started a Credit Linked Rubber Plantation Development Plan (CLRDP) supported by Automotive Manufacturers Association (ATMA) and NABARD to increase rubber production in the coming years. The short term strategies like adoption of good agricultural practices; promotion of rain guarding, disease management, Controlled Upward Tapping (CUT), adoption of rubber plantations etc. are the other important topics of the campaign. The meetings will also discuss how to enable the growers to meet the various challenges in the rubber sector.