‘Natural rubber unlikely to be included in the list of free trade commodities’

Rubber Board Executive Director allays fears of growers

K.N. Raghavan, Executive Director, Rubber Board, speaking at a meeting in Mangaluru on Friday.

Allaying fears of rubber growers of inclusion of natural rubber in the list of commodities for free trade between India and 15 other countries under the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Rubber Board Executive Director K.N. Raghavan on Friday said natural rubber would continue to be excluded from the list as it had happened in earlier free trade agreements signed by India.

“I am confident that natural rubber will not be included in the list (of commodities in the RCEP). Do not worry about it,” Mr. Raghavan said during an interaction at the rubber growers’ meet organised by the Akhila Karnataka Rubber Planters’ Association here.

To a question, Mr. Raghavan said natural rubber had remained excluded from the list of free trade commodities in the all the agreements signed by the Union government so far.

“It remained excluded even when agreement was signed among ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which is the biggest,” he said.

The Rubber Board, he said, had brought to the notice of Union government grave financial impact the inclusion of rubber in the RCEP would have on the 13.2 lakh rubber growers, who were spread out in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and north-eastern region. “This has been clearly brought to the notice of the Centre and it will certainly taken note of it,” he said.

Mr. Raghavan said the board was taking with Karnataka and the Union government to give incentive to rubber growers who were reeling because of the price of the commodity was at ₹120 a kg. The board would ask the Karnataka government to pay subsidy of ₹150 per hectre, which was being paid by the Kerala government, he said.

Asking farmers to cut down cost and improve productivity, Mr. Raghavan suggested rubber growers take up tapping once a week and formation of tappers bank, which has been followed in Adoor, near Kasaragod. Those who have difficulty in tapping can approach the board and it would take up tapping in such fields and credit 60% of the price of rubber to the grower by deducting expenses incurred, Mr. Raghavan said.

Earlier, president of the Rubber Cooperative Society, Ujire, Shridhar Bhide said rubber growers would launch an agitation in November to make elected representatives address their problems.