Rubber acreage crosses 6 lakh hectare mark

Uptrend in prices since 2003 has helped plantation area grow.

In line with the growth in prices during the past three years, the area under rubber plantations, too, has expanded at a good rate. By October 2006, the total area under rubber cultivation crossed the 6 lakh hectare mark for the first time in the 100-year history of natural rubber cultivation in the country.

According to Rubber Board's latest estimates, the country achieved the fifth position in the world with by clocking a total area under rubber plantations of 6,07,000 hectare by October. An additional 13,300 hectare was brought under NR cultivation last year.

The sharp increase in NR prices is considered to be the single most important reason for the growth in the natural rubber acreage. Incidentally, during the 10th Plan, Rubber Board had targeted 15,000 hectare additional plantations "� 10,000 hectare in the North-East and 5,000 hectare in other states. But according to the board latest projections, the total area of new rubber plantations will be more than 40,000 hectare, as fresh plantations have already been carried out in 37,800 hectare.

The board expects a whopping 275 per cent growth over the targeted figure by March 31, 2007, when the 10th Plan will end. Sources in the board said the target was fixed lower because natural rubber prices were as low as below Rs 40 a kg levels when the Plan got off to a start.

But by 2003, the prices started escalating "� RSS-4 crossed Rs 100 a kg barrier on May 10, 2006. The benchmark grade went on to scale Rs 115 levels in June. The continuance of price surge in the rubber mart helped increase plantation area. Of the total 40,000 additional area planted, over 70 per cent is in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, followed by Tripura.

On December 31, 2005, the country had 5,79,000 hectare or 6 per cent of the world's total rubber acreage. During 2000-2002, it had planted rubber in 4,500 hectare of additional area on an yearly average basis, but in 2003, there was a quantum jump in the area to 6,100 hectare.

In the same year, the NR mart witnessed a surge in prices too. At 32,79,000 hectare, which is 34 per cent of the world's total area under rubber cultivation, Indonesia has the highest area, followed by Thailand at 21,33,000 hectare (22 per cent) by the end of 2005. Malaysia comes next with 12,50,000 hectare (13 per cent) and followed by China at 6,00,000 hectare (6.2 per cent).

Meanwhile, the price of RSS-4 remained steady today at Rs 79 per Kg.