Rubber Board is organising an intensive mass contact programme to create awareness among the rubber growers about scientific tapping and other modern practices in all aspects of rubber plantation industry.
The meetings are scheduled to be held from June 6 to July 22, 2011. About 4,000 meetings with a participation of 150,000 growers and tappers will be arranged in the traditional rubber belt of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
It would also involve Rubber Producers’ Societies (RPSs), self-help groups, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other voluntary organisations. The growers are getting good price for natural rubber owing to the increasing demand in the market. The Rubber Board is aiming to enhance productivity in the smallholdings to the maximum so that the growers benefit from the prevailing prices.
The productivity of the holdings mainly depends on tapping methods. The highest productivity has been noticed in holdings where scientific tapping methods are adopted. Such holdings give sustainably good yield for many years and are comparatively free from diseases, according to a Rubber Board press release.