Assam: Newly appointed Rubber Board of India's executive director visits Rubber nurseries in Kamrup district

The newly appointed executive director of the Rubber Board of India, M. Vasanthagesan, visited rubber nurseries in Chaygaon, Kamrup district on Tuesday, May 2. During his visit, he toured the nurseries of Omega Green Solutions in Nijbogai and Chowdhury Para and met with entrepreneurs and farmers to discuss rubber plantation and related matters.

Vasanthagesan expressed enthusiasm about the potential for rubber plantation in the region, stating that the Rubber Board of India is targeting two lakh hectares of land in Northeast India for rubber plantation. He assured farmers and entrepreneurs that the Rubber Board will provide full support for the employees and the entrepreneurs in the Rubber sector.

During media interactions, Vasanthagesan elaborated on the rubber production in India, stating that Kerala is the highest production state of India, fulfilling 35% of the current production of all over India. Second is Tripura and third is Meghalaya for rubber production. He added that India required 13 lakh metric tons of rubbers, however, it is producing only 8.5 lakh metric tons.

Vasanthagesan also discussed the North East Mission of Tyre Industry for Rubber Augmentation (NE MITRA), which aims to increase the production of natural rubber by accelerating new planting and replanting of rubber in the region. He said that the project is being implemented for five years (2021-2026).

The meeting was presided over by Joshy John Kattaram, Managing Partner of Omega Green Solutions, and officials from the Rubber Board also participated. Omega Green Solutions officials mentioned that last year they distributed 35 lakhs rubber tree seedlings in North East India through the Rubber Board, and this year they are targeting 56 lakhs rubber tree seedlings for distribution.