Scale up value addition of rubber and coir: experts at CSIR-NIIST meet

India, as the second largest producer of coconut, was exporting raw materials such as coconut husk, but the country lagged behind in promoting value-added products from coir

India should scale up value addition of abundantly available regional resources such as rubber and coir to tap the increasing domestic and international market for such products, said experts at a thematic session held at the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) here on Thursday in connection with the One Week One Lab (OWOL) programme.

Opening the session on ‘Regional Materials - rubber and coir technologies’, D. Kuppuramu, Chairman, Coir Board, said India, as the second largest producer of coconut, was exporting raw materials such as coconut husk used in making coir products, but the country lagged behind in promoting value-added products from coir.

Mr. Kuppuramu noted that by playing a vital role in reducing heat, natural fibres like coir act as a primary solution to global warming. Also, coir, as the best biodegradable alternative to plastic, would help the nation’s efforts to control plastic use. So, research institutes like CSIR-NIIST should work towards developing technologies that would strengthen the sector, he added.

Product development

Sawar Dhanania, Chairman, Rubber Board, called for encouraging more MSMEs and start-ups to promote value addition of rubber. Apart from ensuring a fair price for growers, cultivation, production, market, and supply chain in the rubber sector should be leveraged to provide further impetus to product development. Also, research and development activities should focus on developing technologies for making rubberised coir products, he added.

Presiding over the session, C. Anandharamakrishnan, Director, CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram, said by developing eco-friendly technologies, CSIR-NIIST envisaged promoting value addition of regional resources like rubber and coir.

Dependent on imports

R. Gnanamoorthy, IIT, Madras, noted that, as only 10% of rubber and coir products required for India are produced in the country, the country is hugely dependent on imports to meet the domestic requirements. He urged research institutions to play a key role in scaling up value addition to these regional resources.

V. Namasivayam, Member, Kerala State Planning Board, said the State was stepping up production of marketable products that could meet industrial demand, thereby contributing to the nation’s revenue. Lack of labourers and high labour cost have drastically affected both sectors, he noted and wanted the agricultural and industrial sectors to jointly work with the government to improve labour efficiency and productivity.