1.25 lakh hectares of rubber plantation done under project INROAD

Over 1.25 lakh hectares of rubber plantation have been completed in Northeast and West Bengal as part of a project by four leading tyre manufacturers of the country, an industry body said on Wednesday.

As part of the project INROAD (Indian Natural Rubber Operations for Assisted Development), the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association (ATMA) had planned to develop two lakh hectares of rubber plantation in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and West Bengal at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore in five years.

"In the first four years of the project, an area of 1,25,272 ha has been covered under new natural rubber (NR) plantations across 94 districts in North East and parts of West Bengal," a senior official of ATMA told PTI.

This represents one of the highest NR plantations ever achieved in the country in a span of four years, he added.

"During the last four years of the project, a record 5.3 crore planting material has been distributed. The project has reached out to resource deprived populations in the designated states since farmers with land holding of less than one acre are being engaged in the project," the senior industry official said.

Once completed, the project is poised to lift the economic and social status of 2.5 lakh beneficiaries of the project, he claimed.

The share of Northeast in India's area under natural rubber plantation before the launch of the INROAD project was 23 per cent.

"Once the objective of developing plantations in additional two lakh ha under the INROAD is achieved, it is estimated that the share of NE states will increase to 38 per cent. Similarly, the share of Northeast in India's natural rubber production will go up to 32 per cent from 16 per cent," the ATMA official said.

INROAD entails development of two lakh ha of rubber plantation in the Northeastern states and West Bengal, financially supported by Apollo Tyres, CEAT, JK Tyre and MRF, and it is being implemented by the Rubber Board of India.

When contacted, ATMA Director General Rajiv Budhraja said: "Notwithstanding challenges, nearly 90 per cent of the plantation target for the first four years under project INROAD has been achieved." Beyond expanding planting areas, the project has seen significant progress in strengthening local nurseries and building grower capacities as a result of collaborative efforts among tyre companies and the Rubber Board of India, he added.

"As the plantation reaches a critical stage, the next component of the project is development of infrastructure such as creation of model smoke houses and dissemination of new practices amongst rubber growers," Budhraja said.

The project is the first of its kind in the world where the tyre industry is contributing directly towards development of rubber plantation.