Assam: Tea estates in Assam may start growing rubber as well | Media Pyro

With the government of Assam allowing the diversion of tea land for non-tea purposes, the Rubber Board is looking to promote rubber cultivation in that land.

The board has identified Assam as the next frontier for rubber as it seeks ways to reduce the rubber import bill.

“We can explore the cultivation of rubber in the vicinity of tea estates. We have held discussions with the revenue department of the state government and the officials have been informed that the state government is working on the necessary changes to permit tea estates for non-tea purposes,” KN said. Raghavan, executive director of the Rubber Board, told the media in Guwahati on Friday. . “Assam has more than 850 tea estates,” he added.

More than 16.5 million rubber trees have already been planted in the Northeast under a project initiated by the Automobile Tire Manufacturers Association (ATMA) in collaboration with the Rubber Board to develop 200,000 hectares of rubber plantations in this region and the West. Bengal for five years. out of Rs 1,100 crore, Raghavan said. The plan includes planting 5.5 million trees that have been brought from Kerala to the northeast in the last one year.

The Assam government in August allowed up to 5% of the total tea plantations to be used for the development of local tea tourism, cultivation of agricultural crops, green power and animal husbandry.

The government has amended the Assam Fixation of Ceiling on the Property Act, 1956, through an ordinance to lay the groundwork for this.

“In the event that the cultivation of tea is not possible the land is allowed to be kept as tea plantations and lie unused, such land and inheritance or any part thereof may be used for the following purposes – the development of local tea .tourism; cultivation of agricultural crops including cash crops, horticultural crops, flowers, medicinal plants, agarwood, sandalwood and bamboo; animal husbandry and fisheries; green energy and non-conventional energy sources; social infrastructure and services including health centers, schools, colleges, universities, health, nursing, medical facilities, cultural and entertainment centers and government offices that may be established by the Tea Estate Authority or a government agency; (and) food processing, mixing and packaging units,” said a regulation

About its partnership with ATMA, the Rubber Board said it is perhaps the first project of its kind worldwide where the consumer industry is working with government agencies involved in natural rubber production ( NR) to increase the availability of these strategic products.

“The security of raw materials is considered an important area for any country in the new world order,” said Raghavan. “Given the importance of this strategic raw material, the country needs to focus on increasing domestic production of NR to become self-reliant and avoid dependence on imports of this important raw material until as much as possible.”

The gap between demand and supply of natural rubber is widening in India and now around 40% of its requirements are met through imports.

In 2021-22, domestic production of rubber stood at 770,000 tons against consumption of 1.23 million tons. It is estimated that by 2030, the country will need about two million tons of NR per year.

Satish Sharma, chairman of ATMA, said, “One of the largest such projects anywhere in the world, such a large number of plantations have been transported (from Kerala to the Northeast). overcoming all logistical challenges. The ATMA NR project is truly a collaborative exercise with the rubber industry, the Rubber Board of India, and all stakeholders working together to realize Atmanirbhar Bharat’s vision for rubber production.”

Project activities are carried out in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and West Bengal.

The NE region has potential for rubber cultivation in terms of land availability and suitable climatic conditions. Currently, NE states account for 18% of their production. By achieving the objective of developing 200,000 additional hectares under the ATMA NR Project, it is estimated that the share of NE regions will increase to 32% of production.

The rubber commission said that under the project, the capacity of nurseries in the North-Eastern regions will be developed to meet the growing requirements of the coming years. The project aims to improve the socio-economic development of resource poor people in these regions as farmers with less than one acre of land are involved in the project. Planting 200,000 hectares will therefore directly benefit nearly 250,000 farmers and their families.