Rubber Board of India executive director M. Vasanthagesan visits rubber nurseries in Chaygaon area

A CORRESPONDENT

BOKO: Newly-appointed Rubber Board of India’s Executive Director M. Vasanthagesan visited rubber nurseries in Chaygaon area, Kamrup district on Tuesday. M Vasanthagesan visited the nurseries of Omega Green Solutions in Nijbogai and Chowdhury Para in Chaygaon LAC. Later, the Executive Director met with the entrepreneurs and farmers in Chowdhurypara nursery.

The newly-appointed Executive Director M. Vasanthagesan enthused the entrepreneurs and farmers. He said, “The Rubber Board of India under the ministry of Commerce and Industry is pursuing the establishment of rubber plantations on two lakh hectares of land in North East India. However, most of the areas falls under the Guwahati Regional office. These plantations and nurseries will generate more employment. Even the whole process is not complicated, so after getting training, it will be easy for farmers.” He also assured that the Rubber Board will help the farmer’s child in the job opportunities in rubber products for export-import business. The Rubber Board will give full support to the employees and the entrepreneurs in the rubber sector.

He also added that after visiting the nurseries and other places for rubber plantations in the Northeast, his confidence level is increasing. He also requested the locals to forward their steps towards rubber plant nurseries. “Without nurseries in Northeast India, rubber board cannot fulfil 1% of the 2 lakh hectares plantation target in NE region.”

During the media interactions, M. Vasanthagesan elaborated about the rubber production and other related matters. He said, “The highest producing state in India is Kerela, which historically has been a centre for the cultivation of rubber. Tripura comes in second and Meghalaya comes in third for rubber output in India overall. Notably, Assam produces a very little amount of Indian Natural Rubber (INR). India needs 13 lakh metric tonnes of rubber, but only 8.5 lakh metric tonnes are produced.”

He also added, “North East Mission of Tyre Industry for Rubber Augmentation (NE MITRA) intended to increase production of natural rubber by accelerating new planting and replanting of rubber in the region. He said the project was being implemented for five years (2021-2026).”

“Potential in northeast region is huge. Rubber industry is divided into two sectors i.e. tyre industries and non-tyre industries. Tyre industries requirements are very huge, eventually non-tyre industries have also required rubbers for various essential items. On the other hand, 36 thousand tonnes of rubber are export to other countries. However, rubber price is higher in the Indian market than the international market,” said Executive director M. Vasanthagesan.

Also Read: Rubber Board, ATMA (Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association) organized round table on 'Development of Natural Rubber in Northeast'

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