Kottayam: For the first time in this country, the national census on rubber will be launched by rubber boards to prepare a comprehensive database on rubber plantations and rubber farmers using cellular applications.
Census is proposed to be done throughout India in stages.
Kerala contributed 67 PC Rubber Area in this country, which, Kottayam Regency shared about one-fifth of the area and therefore the survey was proposed to start in Kottayam Regency in the first phase.
N Raghavan, Executive Board Director, said that even though there were only 534 rubber plantations in this country, according to the details available with the board there were 13.5 lakh rubber grip.
“This is a record produced for decades.
We need a full-scale update from this so we will have complete data at our fingertips,” he said.
The census will be carried out in 16 states in this country, which includes all seventh countries in the northeast, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and West Bengal.
The Board has allocated RS two crores for a period of two years.
The main purpose of the ‘census in rubber’ is; Ensure the actual area under rubber, newly planted areas, re-planted areas, tree age profiles, areas disposed of for many years, new clone adoption rates, ownership size and tapper details etc.
This updated detail is very high important for the formulation of developments in the rubber industry and benefit farmers.
The government introduces several schemes that are directly beneficial for rubber farmers.
Therefore the census is also important to create a data base of rubber farmers and the tapping employed.
Unit level information collected through the census will be used for statistical purposes and confidentiality will be strictly obeyed, the official council said.
Field enumeration is proposed to be done by employing competent youth unemployment, preferably, comes from the same locality as the help of various rubber-producing communities (RPS).
Surveys are being carried out using the Digitedized mobile application, ‘Rubac’, which was developed in relations with the Institute of Technology and Information Management of India, Kerala, the official said.
Rubber is a eternal plant with a long period of pregnancy about seven years.
Therefore, to formulate development projects in the NR sector, the right picture of the area, production, productivity, etc.
Is a sliding must.
Other prominent features of the rubber industry in this country are the dominance of small retaining sectors, with an average detention size of 0.57 hectares.
Reliable and timely statistics about new planting, replanting, actual areas under rubber, the level of adoption of recommended agro management practices, harvesting practices followed by etc.
needed to implement a rubber-related development project.