According to the Indian news on Nov. 10, the Rubber Board under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Rubber Board) has set an ambitious target of investing 500 million rupees in the next two years to set up rubber plantations on 10,000 hectares of land in the northern districts of West Bengal in a bid to boost the country's rubber output.
In India, the annual demand for rubber is around 1.25 million tons, while the current annual production in the country is at 700,000-800,000 tons, said Sawar Dhanania, director general of the agency. Most of this is used in the automobile industry. Since we have to import rubber to meet the demand, the initiative to increase production has been taken. The land and climatic conditions in northern West Bengal are favorable for rubber cultivation.
There are places where tea trees cannot grow but rubber trees can grow, he added. Planting a sapling takes six years of growth and the latex produced thereafter can be harvested for about 35 years. Moreover, during these six years, compound cultivation, such as growing spices, can be done on these lands.
At present, there are 1,111 hectares of rubber plantations in the northern districts of West Bengal, but only about 530 hectares yield rubber. There are large tracts of barren land where plantation can be started.
Under the Rubber Board's latest scheme, farmers will be trained, given financial assistance and saplings. Once they start producing, the Authority will approach multi-purpose cooperatives to buy back the rubber.