This afternoon, a team from Rubber Board led by Dr. K.N. Raghavan, Executive Director, Rubber Board had called on Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai at the Raj Bhavan. During the meeting, the proposal to increase the area for Rubber plantation and the steps need to be taken by the state government was discussed in detail.

In his discussion with the Governor, Dr.K.N. Raghavan had highlighted the increasing demand for rubber supply in India even as the Country can only produce half of the total demand for supply at present. He said that 95% produce of Rubber supply had come from Kerala while the rest of the states produced less than 10% of the total rubber production in India. He had conveyed the Central Government’s plan to extend the rubber cultivation in the North Eastern India Region with the proposed benefits for Rubber Planters during the initial stage which may extend up to 7 years of financial assistance. He had also said that the current rubber cultivation area is only 5000 hectares and that Mizoram can have an extensive potential area of 35000 hectares for new rubber plantations. In this regard, the Rubber Board officials were requesting the Governor’s intervention to help them push through the deal with the state Government. The Governor was also expressing his approval of the proposal and also briefed the visiting officials about the Mizoram state government’s keen interest on Rubber plantation. He had also briefed them on agriculture scientist’s observation of the soil condition in Mizoram to be favourable for rubber cultivation and advised the Rubber Board officials to have further discussion with the Chief Minister and other concerned officials.