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The Rubber Board has set a target of bringing 4.5 lakh hectares of land under rubber cultivation in the north eastern region.
"Climatic condition in the region is favourable and availability of land is possible, so the Rubber Board has set a target of bringing 4.5 hectares of land under rubber cultivation," Joint Rubber Production Commissioner V Mohanan said.
More area could be brought under natural rubber cultivation in Tripura without affecting the ecological balance, he told PTI, adding that 61,000 hectares of land in the state is under rubber cultivation providing livelihood to the tribals in the state.
The state has already emerged as a major player in raw rubber production in the country after Kerala.
Mohanan said high yielding varieties of rubber saplings from Kerala were brought here and experiments for adaptability was on for introduction of those varieties in the state.
More than 60,000 families have been getting benefits of the rubber cultivation in Tripura which produced about 30,000 MT raw rubber annually.
The Board has identified two-lakh hectare land in Assam with potential for rubber cultivation.
The Board is now encouraging farmers to grow pineapple and tea under the shadow of rubber trees which would economically benefit them.
