Rubber production in State dips in four years

SHILLONG: Rubber production in the State has decreased from 7,570 tonne in 2013-14 to 7,360 tonne in 2015-16 as compared to other rubber-producing northeastern states.
In a written statement in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed that rubber production in Meghalaya increased to 8,510 tonne in 2014-15 but in 2015-16, it came down to 7,360 tonne.
Other northeastern states – Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Mizoram – have seen an increase in production from 2013-14. There is an increase in the import of natural rubber that can be owing to the gap between production and consumption in the country and lower prices of block rubber in international markets as compared to sheet rubber in the domestic market. The total production of natural rubber in 2013-14 is 774,000 tonne of which 360,263 tonne was imported. In 2015-16, 562,000 tonne of rubber was produced in the country.