Natural rubber (NR) plantation in the North-Eastern States under the project INROAD (Indian Natural Rubber Operations for Assisted Development), for FY2024-25 has been completed.

In the first four years of the project, an area of 125,272 hectares has been covered across 94 districts in North East and parts of West Bengal, the highest NR plantations ever achieved in the country in four years, a press release said.

INROAD is a first-of-its-kind initiative where the tyre industry is contributing directly towards the development of natural rubber plantations. The project entails the development of 200,000 hectares of rubber plantation in the North-Eastern States and West Bengal financially supported by members of the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) including Apollo, Ceat, JK and MRF. The project is being implemented by the Rubber Board of India.

Record planting distributed

“Notwithstanding challenges, nearly 90 per cent of the plantation target for the first four years under project INROAD has been achieved. Beyond expanding planting areas, the project has seen significant progress in strengthening local nurseries, and building grower capacities—a testament to the collaborative efforts among tyre companies and the Rubber Board of India,” said Rajiv Budhraja, Director General, ATMA.

During the last four years of the project, a record 5.3 crore planting material has been distributed. The project has reached out to resource deprived populations in the designated States since farmers with land holding of less than one acre are being engaged in the project.

Once completed, the project is poised to lift the economic and social status of 2.5 lakh beneficiaries.

The share of North East in India’s area under NR plantation before the launch of the INROAD project was 23 per cent. Once the objective of developing plantations in additional 2 lakh ha under the INROAD project is achieved, it is estimated that the share of these States will increase to 38 per cent. Similarly the share of North East in India’s NR production is estimated to go up from the current 16 per cent to 32 per cent.

As the plantation reaches a critical stage, the next component of the project is the infrastructure development such as model smoke houses and dissemination of new practices amongst rubber growers, Budhraja said.

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