INDIA'S RUBBER INDUSTRY - STRETCHING THE BOUNDARIES

INDIA'S RUBBER INDUSTRY - STRETCHING THE BOUNDARIES

Wednesday, March 27 2024

India began the cultivation of rubber commercially in the year 1902 and is now the world's sixth-largest producer of NR (Natural Rubber). It is the fourth largest in south Asia, behind Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, respectively. It was introduced in India by the British, although the experimental efforts to grow rubber on a commercial scale in India were initiated as early as 1873 at the Botanical Gardens, Calcutta. The first commercial Hevea brasiliensis plantations in India were established at Thattekad, Kerala in 1902.

The land area suitable for natural rubber (NR) cultivation has risen in recent years. Studies have also shown that the increase in rubber plantations has socio-economic benefits, such as an increase in per capita income and expenditure, as well as overall household income among rural communities. The Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) is a well-known cash crop that has supplanted traditional tropical agricultural crops.

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