ISBN: - 978-93-88936-09-5 India's second Industrial Rubber Park has been set up recently in Bodhungnagar in western Tripura to boost the country's elastic polymer industry. The park, a joint venture between the Tripura Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC) and the Rubber Board, is the second of its kind in the country after the rubber park in Irapuram, Kerala. 3.14INDIAN RUBBER The main rubber growing regions in India also come mostly within the world's rubber belt. In India conditions approximate to these are obtained in Andaman Islands and in Kerala in the hills of Western Ghats. These rubber growing regions are confined to the South Western region of India consisting of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala* The rainfall in these regions is not as well distributed as in the case of the other rubber growing countries such as Indonesia and Shri Lanka. Further, a long spell of dry hot season followed by heavy monsoon is found in the rubber growing regions of India, and to that extent it affects the growth and yield of rubber trees. Rubber plantations in India are concentrated, to a large extent, in Kerala State and, to a smaller extent, in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andaman’s. In the South, it extends from the Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu State to the Coong District of Karnataka State in the North and, in general, lies west of the Western Ghats. The rubber growing area may be divided into three categories:1) The High land region is mostly mountainous and consists of reserve forests and other plantation crops. 2) The middle or lower upland region consists of small hilly areas of varying heights and sizes and the resultant valleys. 3) The lowland region denotes the flat alluvial and sandy tracts along the Arabian Sea coasts. In India, seeds of rubber tree were first introduced at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Calcutta by Sir Henry Wickam in 1876. Rubber plantations were first started in Kerala as early as 1905. Besides Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also have rubber plantations. Rubber tree requires a hot climate and a heavy rainfall. It grows to a great height, developing huge buttresses or prop roots. Our familiar greenhouse plant resembles young wild plant. In India, the peak season for harvesting rubber is from October to January, while the lean period is during monsoon. In this condition, rubber is being cultivated in more than 17 states including Kanyakumari, Kerala, Karnataka, Tripura and Meghalaya. Rubber cultivation in the areas creates reformation and employment opportunities at the social and economic level. In 1978, India was net importer since the production was unable to catch up with the increasing demand. There are 4,500 industries including tyre and tube factories use rubber as raw materials. Now in India nearly 8, 50,000 tonnes per year rubber has been produced. Every year in India, the farmers earn income more than Rs. 8,500 crores through production of rubber. Also rubber based factories such as tyre and tube production including various industries earned thousands crores. 78
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