Kottayam: The Rubber Board, under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India will organise ‘Rubber Growers Conferences’ in major rubber-growing areas in traditional, non-traditional and northeastern regions.
The Board will conduct regional-level rubber grower’s conferences at Kulashekharam (Tamil Nadu)on 28 November, Iritty (Kerala) on 17 December, Belthangady (Karnataka) on 19 December, Agartala (Tripura) on 07 January 2025 and Guwahati (Assam) on 10 January. In continuation of those meetings, the Board will organise a rubber grower’s conference in Kottayam, likely by the end of January, as a culmination of the regional level grower’s conferences and valedictory celebration of Platinum Jubilee year of the Rubber Act 1947.
The conferences will provide an opportunity for the Rubber Board to interact more closely with Rubber growers and share new recommendations with the grower community. The seminars will have open discussions and classes on relevant topics led by experts from the various departments and divisions.
The increasing demand for rubber ensures favourable circumstances for the future prospects of rubber farming in the country. In the meantime, the low price of the product, international regulations, climate change, diseases, and shortage of skilled laborers pose challenges to the sustainability of the rubber plantation industry in the country.
The Rubber Board has geared momentum for new avenues in research and extension, especially in areas like the European Union’s Deforestation regulation, use of drones for spraying, e-trading, climate resilient clones, participatory extension and research programmes, etc., to address the challenges that make farmers vulnerable. The Rubber Board had conducted grower conferences in many critical situations to confront the issues, and the rubber stakeholders widely appreciated the impact of such programmes. In line with that, to deal with the current situation in the rubber sector, the Board has started to revive such conferences in major venues across the country.