183rd meeting of the Rubber Board held in Kottayam
Agency
KOTTAYAM, January 24 2023: The Rubber Board will continue its efforts to stabilize the natural rubber (NR) prices with the cooperation of allied sectors, said Dr Sawar Dhanania, Chairman in his presidential address at the 183rd meeting of the Rubber Board in Kottayam Tuesday. The central government has banned the import of scrap rubber, understanding the difficulties faced by farmers in the face of falling rubber prices.
The Rubber Board has requested the Central to raise the import duty on compounded rubber. If Rubber Producers’ Societies have modern warehouses with enough storage facilities, when rubber prices fall, farmers can store their produce without selling it until the domestic market improves.
The Furniture and Fittings Skill Council have the latest technologies in wood processing and designing wood-based articles. The Board can use their expertise to exploit the potentials of the rubber wood industry at the maximum.
The Rubber Board has been conducting grower meetings on ‘Farmer Producer Organizations and their scope in value addition’ at various regions before their launch. The Board can also engage in MoUs with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education to explore the opportunities of NR in their related areas, Dr Dhanania said.
Dr KN Raghavan, Executive Director, presented the report on the current domestic status of Natural Rubber (NR) for April to November 2022. NR production in the country for April to November is provisionally estimated as 517,000 tonnes, with a growth of 14.9 per cent compared to 450,000 tonnes during the corresponding period of last year. Interventions of the Board in promoting rainguarding, controlling diseases, adopting untapped areas etc., contributed to the increase in production.
Consumption of NR for April to November is provisionally estimated as 898,000 tonnes compared to 827,000 tonnes during the same period in the previous year, registering a growth of 8.6 per cent. The auto tyre sector registered 4.4 per cent growth from April to November, while the general rubber goods sector registered 20.2 per cent growth.
Auto-tyre manufacturing sector accounted for 71 per cent of the total NR consumed in the country from April to November. The revised projection of production and consumption of NR for 2022-23 is 830,000 tonnes and 1,310,000 tonnes, respectively.
Import of NR increased to 378,481 tonnes from April to November compared to 343,604 tonnes during the corresponding period of last year. 89 per cent of import was in the form of block rubber, Dr. Raghavan elaborated.
NK Premachandran (MP), Vinay Dinu Tendulkar (MP) Prasenjit Biswas, P Raveendran, CS Soman Pillai, Anil Kumar G, N Hari, Korah C George, KA Unnikrishnan, MP Rajeevan, TP Georgekutty and Keshava Bhat Muliya are the Board members who attended the meeting.
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