Centre takes steps to promote rubber wood as timber alternative

New Delhi: Rubber Board has taken a series of initiatives for promoting the use of rubber-wood, as an alternative and renewable source of timber in order to meet the demand, which is now largely met by imports and has been causing a drain on foreign exchange.

The Board has set up a quality testing laboratory, is improving technology and skills through demonstration and training, promoting rubber-wood and its products in both domestic and world markets, giving technical and financial assistance for promoting its processing and value-addition, official sources said.

This is essential, as 70 per cent of the industrial wood demand in India worth Rs 500 crore is being met by imports and 20 per cent of the industrial consumption of timber is for replacement of non-durable timber.

Under a closely controlled programme chalked out by the Board, rubber trees whose latex yield drops below economic level are cut for replantation with fresh saplings. Such felled trees are a good and sustainable source of timber for many uses like furniture, interiors, kitchen wares, household items, building components. This eco-friendly timber is well accepted in the world market with a total trade of two billion dollars, but in India it continued to be in its infancy.
For developing the rubber-wood processing industry, a laboratory had been set up at Kottayam to make available testing facilities to the processors and consumers. A state-of-the-art rubber-wood factory was also being setup at Kottayam with equity participation of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation. Sources said this soon-to-be-commissioned factory would help improve technology and skills through demonstration and training.

It would give a fillip to rubber-wood processing for value-addition, where there was tremendous scope, as the consumption was only 11 per cent of the 1.5 million cubic metre (cbm) available rubber-wood.
Meanwhile a gap of about 11 million cbm annually between demand and supply in the domestic wood market was also huge. Development of rubber-wood processing would not only save precious foreign exchange but also helps generate employment, ease pressure on environment and make rubber cultivation sustainable.

Due to its light creamish colour, rubber-wood was ideal for interior work and could be used
for both light interiors and stained for dark
ones.

-- PTI