Prospect of rubber plantation in NE region with special reference to the state of Tripura
By Achintya Kumar Sinha

(Paper presented in the seminar cum workshop on ‘Saving soils and croplands’ organized by the Soil Conservation Department of Assam at Guwahati on 27th August 2007)

Introduction: Hinterland of South West coastal region of India, the traditional rubber belt, has reached saturation level in area coverage; and all one may try there is to enhance productivity. That, however, will not be enough. Rubber is a versatile strategic raw material. Its demand both domestic and global has been growing much too faster than increments in

production. Thailand and Malaysia, two major producers, are likely to export less of it as years roll by owing to their rapid industrial growth. For India, which is taking giant leaps in the industries sector, its non-traditional area for rubber cultivation is now in focus. North East India is emerging as one of the most important rubber-growing zones outside the traditional belt, and the scope is enormous. Governments and the people of North East India should leave no stones unturned to seize this unique opportunity for economic emancipation.
2. Agro climatic requirement
2.1. General: Commercial Rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis grows wild in the Amazon basin and adjacent areas of Brazil. Important climatic requirements within the tropics for commercial cultivation of rubber generally are well-distributed high rainfall with no pronounced droughts; mild and short winter, high humidity and free from strong and prolonged seasonal winds.
2.2. Ideal: Climate, physiography and soil for optimum growth and yield for rubber may be briefly described as below:

2.3. Adaptability: Rubber is adaptable to a wide range of agro-climatic conditions. Deviation in respect of rainfall, temperature, humidity and wind affect growth and yield, but the adverse impact from variations to a limit can in most cases be moderated through management intervention. That it is so is demonstrated by the generally good performance of rubber in Tripura and elsewhere in the Northeast.

3. Major rubber growing regions of the world Rubber has been predominantly grown in two major types of tropical climate:
a. Equatorial monsoon climate: The region between 100 North and South latitude comprising most of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, southern parts of Sri Lanka and some other islands
b. Dry and wet monsoon climate: The Indian Subcontinent, Northern Sri Lanka, coastal Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippine archipelago and Southeastern Indonesia.

4. Rubber in India, Kerala dominates: European planters introduced commercial cultivation of rubber in 1902 at Thattakad in the erstwhile Travancore State. It has been traditionally cultivated since then largely in Kerala and Kanyakumari District of Tamilnadu, which receive abundant precipitation from of both the southwest and northeast monsoons. Non-traditional areas found suitable for rubber cultivation despite varying degrees of limitations are hinterland of coastal Karnataka, Goa, Konkan region of Maharashtra, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, Siliguri area of West Bengal and the low elevation regions of the

 Northeastern states excluding Sikkim. Out of 615,000 ha of rubber plantation in the country, Kerala alone accounts for 502,000 ha.

5. Rubber in NE India
5.1. Large-scale planting of rubber commenced in the Northeast in 1963 with plantations in degraded forestland in Tripura as a soil conservation initiative. Soil conservation departments of Mizoram, Meghalaya and Assam took to planting rubber near about the same time. Low elevation regions of the Northeast, with the sole exception of Sikkim, with near tropical climatic features soon emerged as the principal rubber growing zone outside the traditional belt in the country, with Tripura turning out to be the second largest rubber growing state in India.

5.2. Area breakup: State wise break up of area coverage till 2006-07 against potential area determined after exploratory survey by the Rubber Board and other agencies like the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land use Planning is as below:

 

5.3. NEC sets target for expansion: 3rd Summit and Special meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in March 2007 considered the need for doubling the area under rubber in the NE over a period of 10 years from 2007-08, and the Rubber Board accordingly prepared a project report for planting of rubber over 60,000 ha:

New planting of rubber proposed for Northeast States (ha)

The target is proposed to be achieved through Block plantation, a special programme for economic rehabilitation of tribal people in NE and through corporate and individual growers. Rubber Board implemented the Block Plantation scheme during the Xth Plan in Tripura with 50% contribution from the State Government, 43% from Rubber Board and 7% from beneficiaries. This scheme is proposed to be extended to Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya during the XIth Plan period.

6. Rubber in Tripura
6.1. Initiation: Rubber plantation was raised for the first time in Tripura in 1963 by the State Forest Department. Rubber

Board responded by opening its first (one-man) office in NE at Agartala in 1967. Tripura Forest Development & Plantation Corporation Ltd. (TFDPC), a State Government Undertaking established in 1976, adopted rehabilitation of degraded forests through rubber plantation as its primary objective. The State Government transferred 10,000 ha of degraded forestland on a long-term lease to TFDPC for raising rubber plantation. Rubber Board up graded its one-man set up at Agartala to a Regional office in 1979 for extension and training.

6.2. Tripura Forest Development & Plantation Corporation Ltd (TFDPC)
a. Largest Rubber Plantation Unit: It is a premier profit earning public sector company of the Government of Tripura and is the largest rubber plantation unit in the country with more than 11000 ha of rubber plantation. The Latex Processing factory of TFDPC produces annually around 1000 MT of high value Cenex (latex concentrate) and other by-products.

b. Rubber wood: TFDPC commissioned a Rubber Timber Processing Unit in 1999 at Negicherra near Agartala with financial assistance from the Indian Council for Forest Research & Education. Its capacity was gradually increased from 500 cum per annum to the current level of 2000 cum. Treated rubber wood from the unit has a ready market now and the demand has been rising. A Furniture Manufacturing facility was set up in the unit and it has been producing high-end as well as utility furniture for schools on a fairly large-scale. A Common Facility Centre for automatic semi knock down furniture for producing world-class furniture is now on the anvil.

c. Rehabilitation through rubber: TFDPC implemented a project for rehabilitation of 100 tribal shifting cultivators through rubber plantation at its Warangbari Plantation Centre in West Tripura under a centrally sponsored scheme. The families worked on payment of wages for establishment of their own plantation with the hope of a good earning from sale of latex on maturity. The project caught the imagination of the planners as well beneficiaries. The Warangbari experience was the precursor for establishment of another public sector undertaking, Tripura Rehabilitation Plantation Corporation Ltd. (TRPC) in 1983. It was set up with the primary objective of economic rehabilitation of tribal shifting cultivators, tribal landless and small farmers mainly through rubber plantation. This rehabilitation model was utilized mutatis mutandis by the Tribal Welfare Department, Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) and finally by the Rubber Board in its highly acclaimed Block Plantation scheme.

6.3. TRPC in tribal rehabilitation on rubber plantation:
6.3.1. Funding of plantations: Creation of plantation during the first phase of TRPC project was supported by bank loan of Rs.75.66 lakh under NABARD refinance scheme. 1064 ha of rubber plantation was raised with that loan for 709 beneficiaries during 1983-84 to 1987-88. The entire loan with interest was paid back. A loan of Rs.173.82 lakh received under the World Bank Aided Rubber Project was utilized for raising 924 ha of rubber plantation for 720 beneficiaries during 1993-94 to 2000-01. Rs.247.78 lakh against the principal amount and interest was repaid and the disputed claim for an additional repayment of Rs.42.58 lakh was referred to an Arbitrator. The plantations for rehabilitation of tribal, for rest of the time, were funded under the annual plan schemes of the Tribal Welfare Department, Rural Development or Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council.

6.3.2. The plantations: TRPC created 6079 ha of rubber plantation since 1984 season for 4945 tribal beneficiaries. The plantations raised initially had in general rather a limited success rate. There were cases of desertion and large majority of the failed areas fell victims to grazing and fire from shifting cultivation areas. Certain plantations were abandoned due to problems of free access. The area actually maintained and utilized in 2006-07 was 4509 ha. The picture changed rather fast after some beneficiaries started earning from sale of latex to TRPC. They found the job of tapping much less strenuous compared to farm labour or shifting cultivation, and that the engazement was at the most for two hours a day for a single member of the family was an added attraction.
 

a. Average earning of TRPC beneficiaries against supply of latex & scrap

The table shows a quantum jump compared to Rs.10,000/- per annum that a family of five in Tripura could expect to earn in cash and kind from shifting cultivation and that too after backbreaking labour of the entire family.

b. Productivity level in rehabilitation plantations under TRPC

6.4. Rubber, the most important Plantation crop in Tripura: Rubber has now attained the status of the most important plantation crop in Tripura not merely because of its commercial success, but more so due to its innovative application for economic rehabilitation of shifting cultivators, which delivered generally a degree of success in a manner hitherto not experienced in any rehabilitation package on un-arable uplands.

6.5. Rubber for economic rehabilitation of tribal communities in Tripura Area in ha

6.6. Agency wise break up of Plantation in Tripura as in March 2007

It may be mentioned that as per Rubber Board statistics (provisional) the total area planted to rubber in Tripura till 2006-07 is 39,095 ha. The area of 35,760 ha shown above indicates the estimated area actually maintained or utilized.  

6.7. Rubber area & production in Tripura
Of the total 35760 ha of rubber plantation in the state, 11500 ha was under tapping during 2006-07 producing around 20,000 MT of raw rubber. A dateline is shown hereunder:

6.8. Productivity: Productivity rose from 200 to 300 kg per ha per annum during 1970s to the present average of 1000 kg  plus per ha per annum against the national average of 1879 kg. Some better-managed plantations in the state have reached production of 1800 kg per ha per annum. Around 35000 ha will be under tapping five years hence with an annual production of upwards of 35000 MT of raw rubber in the state.

6.9. Utilisation of rubber produced in Tripura

Around 18000 MT out of the total production of 20,000 MT of rubber during 2006-07 was sold to traders based in Kolkata and Guwahati. There is scope and potential for establishment within the next 3-4 years of a medium sized manufacturing unit for bi-cycle and scooter tires in the state.

6.10. Tripura Rubber Mission- Nodal Agency for rubber sector in Tripura 

Tripura Rubber Mission (Mission) was constituted in January 2006 by the Government of Tripura as an interdepartmental coordinating body headed by Dr. VK Bahuguna, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Tripura with the object to increase the coverage under rubber cultivation in Tripura to 85,094 ha during 2006-07 to 2025-26 and to ensure scientific management of rubber plantation for sustainable development. The Mission has the mandate for planning and coordination and to organise funding, capacity building and monitoring to achieve the Mission target.

Area dedicated to rubber plantation in Tripura in 2005 was 33220 ha, and out of that maintainable area was 29120 ha. Mission’s Action Plan envisaged further extension of rubber plantation over 51894 ha to reach 85094 ha in twenty years from 2006-07:

a.       Degraded forestland:                                                  26874 ha

b.      Non-forest land including private holdings:                     25000 ha

                                                     Total:                            51874 ha 

6.11. Chase the target but with caution

The Mission decided to proceed with caution in pursuing the ambitious target for expansion of rubber in Tripura with due regards to both ecological considerations, on which the debate is still alive, and the demand on the limited land for alternative productive use, e.g. for medicinal & aromatic plants, bamboo, horticulture, nature tourism, etc. etc.

7. Institutional issues associated with rubber in NE region

7.1. Minimalist presence of Rubber Board

NEC and Rubber Board intend to double the area under rubber in the NE over a period of 10 years from 2007-08. Rubber Board’s establishment and presence in the NE region is, however, inadequate to support the activity even at X^th Plan level. The Board has only 9 regional offices, 3 for the 4 districts of Tripura and 6 for the rest of the Northeast, scanty by any reckoning. Strong extension support is essential for cultivation and management of a sophisticated crop like rubber, and more so in a remote non-traditional zone like NE. The number of field level Extension Officers in the NE region actually came down from 41 in 1997 to 24 in 2007. Substantial strengthening of the Board’s extension & training facilities as well as R&D would be essential for the proposed extension of scientific rubber cultivation in this remote non-traditional belt.  

7.2. Financial assistance from Rubber Board

Cost of raising and maintenance of rubber plantation till maturity for Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya at Rs.73,100/-, Rs.88,970/- and Rs.100,770/- respectively  are very high. Assistance for new planting during the X^th Plan were too low as below: 

Planting grant:                                    For holdings up to 5 ha - Rs.20,000/- per ha

                                                            For holdings above 5 ha and up to 20 ha- Rs.16,000/-

Cost of planting material:                  Rs.8/- per plant (maximum Rs.4000/- per ha) 

There is a proposal to raise the planting grant to Rs.22000/- per ha and to provide Rs.4000/- per ha for transportation of plantation in puts. It would be difficult to achieve the ambitious target of 60000 ha unless the subsidy level is raised to 50% of costs. Production of rubber would meet a strategic need for the country’s rapid industrialization. More over the returns from rubber plantations in the NE region would be substantially lower than that from the traditional areas for a variety of reasons including climate. State Governments of the NE region may under the circumstances take up the matter with the Government of India for enhancement of subsidy to 50% of costs for rapid expansion of rubber in the region.

7.3.Training facilities

Existing facilities in the Northeast for training of small growers, tappers and supervisory personnel would require considerable expansion and strengthening to match the enhanced level of activity. Training of Trainers (ToT) for implementing officials of Government departments, public sector undertakings and other implementing agencies would help

 in supplementing Rubber Board’s training programmes. Similar initiatives in Tripura of late produced encouraging results. TRPC and TFDPC joined the Rubber Board in organizing training programme for implementing officials of District Administration.