AGARTALA, 8 Dec: The Rubber Board has set a target of 2 lakh hectares of rubber cultivation in the Northeastern states by 2025 to increase production, a senior official said.
At present, seven states of the region together produce around 2 lakh mt of rubber annually and Tripura tops with one lakh mt.
“We have launched a plan, NE Mitra, to increase rubber cultivation and rubber production in the seven states of the Northeast. Under the plan, 2 lakh hectares of land will be brought under rubber cultivation in the region by 2025,” Rubber Board Chairman Sawar Dhanania said.
It was found that except Sikkim, all other NE states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura – are agro-climatically suitable for raising rubber plantations.
Tripura is the considered second rubber capital of the country after Kerala. There are 1.15 lakh rubber growers in the Northeastern state where the population is only 40 lakhs.
Dhanania said that, despite the Covid pandemic, Tripura has made significant progress in rubber cultivation. Rubber plantation was done in 2,374 hectares in 2021 and 8,400 hectares in 2022. (PTI)