Inadequate subsidy for rubber re-plantation is likely to reduce supply and hence force the country to depend on imports, officials of the Cochin Rubber Merchants Association (CRMA) said. ?Insufficient re-plantation would reduce the productivity of the tree and pull down the profit and supply,? N Radhakrishnan, president, CRMA told FE. More than 1,10,000 hectare (ha) of the total 6,30,000 ha under rubber farming have either senile or less productive trees which needs to be re-planted soon.
?Rubber production should be steadily increased to meet the growing demand in the country. As a prelude to this, area under new plantation has to be developed. Old and or less productive areas have to be identified for re-plantation,? he said. The Centre, as of now, extends Rs 19,500 per ha, but according to a case study conducted by the association, the actual requirement is Rs 1,10,000 per ha, he added. ?The amount will cover only the input cost and not make up for the loss the farmers will suffer in the next five-six years from production fall,? Radhakrishnan said.
A study conducted by rubber expert S Sivakumaran of Greenyeild Berhad, Malaysia, forecasts that for the 15-year period of 2005-2020, about 74,000 ha of land would be freshly planted or re-planted in India. During the same period due to economic reasons, 66,400 hectare will be discarded from rubber farming. Area under rubber production in India is likely to remain stable in the long run, as new planting area would hardly compensate for area discarded, says Sivakumaran. The concerns of the rubber sector are uneconomic land holdings, dependence on a single clone and limitations of the non-traditional areas. The traditional area of rubber farming in Kerala, accounts for 92% of natural rubber production and experts feel that it is saturated.
The association is also concerned on the unabated import of Chinese tyres into the nation. Tyre imports from China, often using unfair means, are seen increasingly capturing the replacement market. The imports are seen growing leaps and bounds and now account for almost 12-15% of the replacement market. ?The Chinese tyres have displaced almost 35,000 tonne of rubber from the market last year. Chinese tyre import ban would mean an additional demand of nearly 35, 000-40,000 tonne,? Radhakrishnan said.