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Rubber Board Campaign for Quality Upgradation of Sheet Rubber
Kottayam
11 February 2012
The Rubber Board, in co-operation with Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA), All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA) and Indian Rubber Dealers’ Federation (IRDF), is organising an awareness campaign for the small and marginal rubber growers to improve the quality of sheet rubber. The programme will be launched in a meeting at Mammen Mappilai Hall, Kottayam, on 18 April 2012 at 10 AM. The campaign programme is scheduled to be conducted in the traditional rubber growing belt of Kerala, Tamilnadu and Karnataka from 08 May 2012 to 08 July 2012.
Smt. Sheela Thomas (Chairman, Rubber Board), Sri. George Valy (Member, Rubber Board and President, IRDF), Adv. Siby J Monippally (Member, Rubber Board and General Secretary, Indian Rubber Growers Association), Sri. Rajiv Budhraja (Member, Rubber Board and Director General, ATMA), Sri. Vinodh Simon (President, AIRIA), Sri. Kowshik Roy (Convenor, ATMA Raw Material Group), Dr. J Thomas (Rubber Production Commissioner), Sri. Viju Chacko (Director, Finance) and Sri. S Mohanachandran Nair (Director, P&PD) will participate in the meeting.
The tyre industry consumes the major portion of natural rubber produced in the country. This sector is switching to production of radial tyres, which have relatively superior quality and better life than the cross ply (bios) tyres. Sheet rubber of RSS 4 and above grades is essential for the manufacture of radial tyres. The growers should therefore be prepared to improve the quality of their sheet rubber, so as to keep the demand intact. It is in these circumstances the Board is conducting the mass contact programme.
In addition to the main theme of quality improvement of sheet rubber, topics like use of root trainer plants, soil moisture conservation, low frequency of tapping etc. will be discussed in the campaign meetings.
