The All Indian Rubber Industries’ Association has backed a call to declare a minimum support price (MSP) of ₹200 a kg for rubber in view of the significance of natural rubber and the huge demand for it in the market. Association president Ramesh Kejriwal told The Hindu in an online interaction on Thursday that there was huge demand for natural rubber, which called for a support price just as there was a support price for products such as jute.
He said the allocation of ₹600 crore in the State Budget for rubber subsidy would help the sector. The Tripura government too offered incentives for rubber plantations under various schemes. He pointed out that India was the fourth largest natural rubber producer, and Kerala accounted for 90% of production in the country.
For the record, the Kerala government had operated a price stabilisation fund initially with a ceiling at ₹150. The mechanism is that if the price fell below the ceiling, the gap would be made good by using the stabilisation fund. The ceiling was later raised to ₹170 a kg for which ₹600 crore has now been allotted in the Budget. There is also a promise of hiking the minimum price to ₹200 a kg.
The country produced 7.75 lakh tonnes of rubber during 2021-22 as against 7.15 lakh tonnes during 2020-21. The consumption of rubber was 12.38 lakh tonnes during 2021-22 as against 10.96 lakh tonnes during the 2020-21 period.
Mr. Kejriwal said most rubber-using industries, excluding large ones like tyre makers, were in the MSME sector. He added that the government must ensure that the terms of free trade agreements (FTA) benefitted the MSMEs which could compete globally with the help of a level-playing export infrastructure, better financing conditions, education on suitable marketing channels, and facilities for them to work with trading companies.
The association wanted the government to diversify the agroforestry system in such a way that cash crops could not be monoculture. The government should encourage more research on the ecological and economic effects of rubber plantations on rural communities, he said.
Rubber farming has substantial social impact considering that natural rubber is largely grown by small holders. Around 92% of production is from small holdings of below 10 hectares. There are around 1.3 million rubber growers and 0.6 million workers in the plantation sector in India. The average size of holding is the lowest in India (0.57 hectares) among the major natural rubber producing countries. Besides, most growers in the non-traditional rubber growing regions are from tribal and other resource poor communities, Mr. Kejriwal said.
