GUWAHATI, May 12— Goalpara district in Assam is all set to become the richest district in the state within the next half decade. Till some time back, it was regarded as being among the poorer districts. The transformation in the district’s fortunes is being brought about by the widespread popularity of rubber cultivation.
According to officials of the Rubber Board’s zonal office here, rubber cultivation is becoming a household activity in Goalpara as farmers are reaping good yields and earning much more than they ever did before. Agia, in Goalpara, has now become a major center of rubber trade in the state with traders from Delhi and Kolkata flocking here to make bulk purchases. Rubber here is available at much cheaper rates than what one would have to pay in Delhi or Kolkata, where most of the rubber-based industries are based.
The price trend of rubber is very god, Rubber Board officials say. In fact, with the opening up of the Indian economy, the price has become much better. What should be still better news is that Indian rubber is fetching good prices in the international markets too. Local buyers are also said to be offering good prices for rubber.
Encouraged by the performance of the Goalpara farmers, the Rubber Board has taken several development initiatives in the area. About 50 group processing centers have been set up in the district to ensure that there is consistency in quality, something that is vital to curve a niche in the international export market. So far, most of the rubber being produced here is sheet rubber which cannot be quality tested. The Board is, therefore, promoting production of technically specified rubber (TSR), for which group collective centres are best suited.
The Goalpara effort has been so successful that the district administration in bordering Bongaigaon has also approached the Rubber Board to undertake a similar exercise there. The Rubber Board will spend Rs 84 crore in the North East during the 10th Plan period. Out of that amount, Rs 44 crore will be spent in Tripura where rubber cultivation has been an outstanding success. The success can be attributed to the keen participation of the Tripura Government in the rubber development projects. Such enthusiasm has been lacking in the rest of the North East states, the officials admit.
In 2001-02, Tripura had 27,947 hectares under rubber cultivation, producing 10,304 tonnes (1.63 percent of India’s total production). Assam, during the same period, had 12,806 hectares under rubber and produced 1,755 tones (0.28 percent of the country’s total). Meghalaya did better than Assam, producing 2,378 tonnes out of 4,354 hectares under plantation. Rubber Board officials said that a target has been fixed to extend rubber cultivation in the North East by 10,000 hectares during the 10th Plan period. Of that, 1,350 hectares have already been covered, they said. It is estimated that about 450,000 hectares of land in the region can be brought under rubber cultivation. In fact, the Board has been implementing accelerated development schemes in the region since 1985. One component of that is the setting up of a Nucleus Rubber Estate and Training Centre (NRETC) to provide intensive training to growers and all categories of persons involved in rubber plantation sector and at the same time also building up infrastructure for various plantation activities such as generation of planting material, processing facilities and for large scale demonstration.
The NRETC is coming up at Tetelia, near Sonapur with the Centre clearing the Rs 9.6 crore project, Board officials said. The complex will come up in 1000 bighas of land provided by the state government. A nursery has already been raised in the complex and planting will begin from the next season. The new center will fulfil all the needs for promotion and research of rubber in the North East. “It will cater to all categories of growers and will have hostel facilities for trainees,” an official said. One NRETC already exists at Agartala, the officials informed.
According to the Rubber Board, though the North East has a lot of potential, lack of proper infrastructure and poor awareness has acted as stumbling blocks. What surprises many is the fact that despite the existence of raw material and market, few rubber based industries have been set up here. The Board has a technical consultancy division here that supports potential entrepreneurs in training, project assessment, market survey, etc. Training is also provided to them.