COCHIN (Commodity Online): The climate change has led to long dry periods in the areas of rubber cultivation in India. Further fueled by the inability to increase the area under rubber plantation, India's dependence on rubber imports has increased significantly.
The exploding demand for natural rubber is making it necessary to identify alternate sources of rubber all the more urgent. If India can take a cue from Czech botanists who have cultivated a new plant, a hybrid of "kok-saghyz" from Kazakhstan and other Asian dandelions, that can potentially replace dying rubber trees in Latin America which are afflicted by mould, India could put a foot forward towards domestic sustainability.
Kok-saghyz, commonly referred to as the Russian Dandelion or Rubber Root, is a species of Dandelion native to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan that is notable for its production of high quality rubber.
The Rubber Research Institute will have to play the same role for shrinking the demand-supply gap of natural rubber in India. Genetically Modified (GM) varieties which are resistant to the drought and physiological disorders need to be developed that would reduce the dependence on natural rubber plantations.
The rubber industry and tyre manufacturers are also demanding the government to replicate the experiment of China to acquire land abroad for rubber cultivation. The traditional areas of Kerala have reached a saturation point, with increasing demand of land for tourism and other plantation crops. In such circumstances, the best option is to identify new areas and new varieties of rubber plants that would help meet the domestic demand for natural rubber.
Increasing the rubber production is need of the hour and India needs to identify sources and take immediate steps to meet the demand for rubber before it is too late.
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