Reported by Mrinal Banik
Agartala: Rubber growers in Tripura have been advised to adopt improved disease-management practices, including drone-based fungicide spraying, following the outbreak of a fungal infection that affected rubber plantations in the state last year.
According to experts, the fungal infection causes falling of leaves on a large scale leading to adverse impact on the overall production of latex and its quality. It is observed that the infection was induced by climate change.
The issue was discussed at a rubber growers’ conference held here on Monday, where representatives of the rubber industry and scientists shared experiences and technological interventions aimed at protecting plantations from leaf diseases.
Business Head of Mak Lubricants, Bharat Petroleum, Kannan said, “Rubber plantations in Tripura witnessed a climate-related disease last year that led to large-scale shedding of leaves and affected overall yield. A similar problem has been affecting rubber-growing regions in Kerala for several years.”
According to Kannan, a product developed by the company’s research wing for the Kerala market had undergone trials over the past decade and yielded encouraging results. He said the development process involved support from the Rubber Board and the product was tested jointly to contain the disease.
“A limited quantity of the product was brought to Tripura last year on an emergency basis to tackle the infection. Given the prevailing weather conditions there remains a possibility of recurrence of the disease and the conference was organised to facilitate knowledge sharing among rubber growers,” he added.
Director of the Rubber Research Institute, Debabbarta Roy, said rubber cultivators in Tripura faces a serious fungal infection last year and effective disease management requires the use of suitable fungicides.
“The fungicide traditionally used in plantations in the state was found to be less effective against the infection that emerged during the period,” he said.
Roy said technological changes have enabled the use of drones for spraying chemicals in plantations, replacing manual methods in many cases. He said drone-based spraying could reduce the chemical load on the environment while improving the effectiveness of disease management.
Highlighting the importance of the sector in the state economy, Roy said Tripura currently has more than 1.10 lakh hectares under rubber cultivation. He noted that expansion of plantation areas has become difficult as cultivation has nearly reached saturation levels.
He said efforts are being made to create awareness among cultivators and traders about the economic potential of rubber cultivation. “The institute is also working to ensure that technologies developed through research reach growers across the state,” he added.
Roy further said younger people should consider rubber cultivation as a source of livelihood and income generation.
The conference was attended by rubber growers and stakeholders from the sector and focused on disease control measures, technological interventions and sustainable management of plantations.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rajib Bhattacharjee inaugurated the conference.