|   20 Aug 2022 3:47 AM GMT

Production of natural rubber in India registering a significant growth of 8.4% in 2021-22 is attributed to increasing output in Assam, Tripura and Karnataka. The faster pace of consumption growth is posing a tougher challenge in achieving the country's policy targets, but brings greater opportunities of expanding rubber cultivation in the Northeast region. The Rubber Board has projected that consumption of natural rubber in the country is expected to increase to 1.5 million tonne by 2026-26 against the projected consumption level of about 1.29 million tonne in the current financial year. India is the second-largest consumer of natural rubber with sheet rubber, block rubber and latex accounting for 47%, 43% and 8% respectively of total consumption in the country. Despite the growth in production, about 38% of total consumption of natural rubber in the country in 2021-22 was met through import. The National Rubber Policy 2019 envisages bringing down the import to 25% of total consumption so that domestic natural rubber can meet at least 75% of the demand by 2030. The Rubber Board estimates show that the gap between production and consumption of natural rubber during 2021-22 was bridged by imports valued at Rs 7,500 crore. The falling rupee against the dollar has led to rising import bills and increasing foreign exchange outgo. The board estimates production and consumption of natural rubber for the current financial year at 8,50,000 tonne and 1.29 million tonne respectively, which implies that about 35% of the consumption will have to be met through imports. The domestic production in the last financial year was 7,75,000 tonne against total consumption of 1,238,000 tonne, compared to 715,000 tonne production against consumption of 10,96,410 tonne in 2020-21. The growth in 2020-21 was only 0.4% compared to 8.4% in 2021-22 on account of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Rubber Board attributes the increase in consumption to the auto tyre sector registering 15.9% growth during 2021-22, against 3.2% recorded during 2020-21 and the general rubber goods sector registering 5.6% growth during 2021-22 compared to a high negative growth of 16.4% in 2020-21. The automotive tyre manufacturing sector accounted for 73.1% of the total quantity of natural rubber consumed in the country during 2021-22, which is indicative of the consumption level in the sector rising significantly from 68% at the time of the 2019 policy formulation. Apart from expansion of area under rubber cultivation, increase in tapping and average yield also impact production growth. Official data shows that of the total tappable area of 7,18,800 hectares, 73.2% was tapped in 2021-22 and the yield increased marginally from 1,442 kg/Ha in 2020-21 to 1,472 kg/Ha in 2021-22. The impact of expansion of cultivation area takes times as tapping can be started only after 6 to 7 years and, therefore, optimal tapping from yielding trees is of vital importance to increase production of natural rubber. The national policy highlights that 92% of natural rubber production is from small landholding sector (less than 10 hectares) and most of the 1.3 million rubber growers and 0.6 million workers in country's rubber plantation sector belong to tribal and other resource-poor communities. This exemplifies how expansion of natural rubber cultivation and increase in production can help generating livelihood avenues for low-income households in regions like the Northeast. The North East Mission of Tyre Industry for Rubber Augmentation (NE-MITRA) is an ambitious project initiated by the Rubber Board for natural rubber expansion in the region with financial support from the automotive tyre industry, but better price realisation will be a key factor to motivate the growers to expand areas and attract new growers. The Rubber (Promotion and Development Bill) 2022, which seeks to replace the existing Rubber Act, 1947 has triggered the apprehension that fixing of maximum and minimum price will favour the industry, not the growers, and with reduced role Rubber Board under the new law will not be able to provide relief to growers when prices' fall is non-remunerative for growers through procurement. Before pushing the proposed legislation for ease of doing business, analyzing the potential impact of its various clauses on growers and their livelihoods from natural rubber cultivation is critical for the sustainability of the production. The national policy estimates that consumption of natural rubber in the country will increase to 2 million tonnes by 2030 and to achieve the target of meeting 75% of consumption from domestic production, the country will require average annual new planting and replanting to the tune of at least 8,000 Ha to 10,000 Ha. Safeguarding the interest of growers is of crucial importance to achieve these targets. The prediction by the Rubber Research Institute of India, that if present global warming trend continues productivity in Kerala, the largest producer, could be reduced by 4% to 7% and that in Northeast could go up by as much as 11% in the next decade, explains why the region has become the cynosure of natural rubber stakeholders.