Rubber Board has taken measures to promote high yielding Indian clones – RRII 429 – in the North-East to boost productivity of rubber in the region.

North-East is the second-largest rubber cultivation belt in the country and accounts for 18 per cent of the total production of 7.15 lakh tonnes in the country.

The Centre is promoting natural rubber cultivation in Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and West Bengal to increase the domestic production. The proposal is to cultivate rubber on two lakh hectares in these States over five years, Jessy MD, Director in charge of Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII), said.

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Low temperature during the winter is a major constraint for rubber cultivation in this region. The clone widely cultivated here is RRIM 600 and the productivity is substantially less than that of traditional regions. Based on decades of evaluation across several locations in Tripura, Assam, north-west Bengal and Meghalaya, the RRII has developed high yielding clones adapted to the NE region, she said.

The indigenously developed clone RRII 429 has superior performance compared to the currently cultivated RRIM 600. The RRII 429 has vigorous growth habit and attains tapability nearly one year ahead of RRIM 600. The yield is also 20-30 per cent higher.

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Considering the advantages of early opening of trees for tapping, as well as higher yield, the Rubber Board is promoting RRII 429 in the North-East. Planting materials of the clone are being generated in various nurseries of the Rubber Board in the North-East.

Traditional rubber growing regions including Kerala, parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka account for 70 per cent of area and 82 per cent of production of NR in the country. The popular clone cultivated in this region is RRII 105. The clones RRII 430, RRII 417, RRII 422, and RRII 414 are also gaining popularity.

The widening gap between production and consumption has increased the import of natural rubber in the country during the past several years and it is a growing concern for the government as well as for the industries. The current import was 4.11 lakh tonnes.

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