Faster Drying of Rubber

The Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) under the Rubber Board has developed a method to dry sheet rubber in 24 hours in place of the traditional method that takes four to five days.

Rubber plantations are mostly owned by small farmers. They prefer to sell their produce as quality sheet rubber (ribbed smoked sheets or RSS-4 grade) to earn a better price in the market.
It is estimated that there are around 13.2 lakh small rubber holdings in the country, while the number of large estates (10 hectares or above) is minimal. A total area of 8.23 lakh hectares is covered under the crop in the country and production comes up to around 7.15 lakh tonnes annually.
The conversion of raw latex into sheet rubber helps them store the produce and sell according to the market situation as price fluctuation is a constant phenomenon. However, the traditional method of drying sheet rubber takes four to five days. The processing involves coagulation, sheeting and drying.
The much quicker method of drying is done by replacing the conventional coagulant — diluted formic acid — with a mixture of the acid and alcohol and an improved sheeting process.
- Coagulation is a step in which chemicals are added that cause small particles suspended in the liquid medium to clump together. Common Example of coagulation is the Coagulation of blood where blood changes from a liquid to a gel, forming a blood clot.

In the new process, coagulation takes only about 30 minutes and the drying can be much quicker after loading the wet coagula in the smokehouse. Quick drying is achieved by increasing the effective surface area through additional rolling.
Quality of the sheets processed under the new method compared favourably with the traditionally processed ones. The new method helps get RSS-4 sheets ready within a day, which in turn aids small farmers to dispose of their produce faster.

India is the fourth largest natural rubber-producing country in the world.
Kerala is the largest natural rubber producing state in the country followed by Tripura
Natural rubber is cultivated in 16 states in India.
The British established the first rubber plantation in India in 1902 on the banks of the river Periyar in Kerala.

The Department of Commerce(The Ministry of Commerce and Industry) has brought out the National Rubber Policy, 2019.
The National Rubber Policy includes several provisions to support the Natural Rubber (NR) production sector and the entire rubber industry value chain.
The Policy covers new planting and replanting of rubber, support for growers, processing and marketing of natural rubber, labour shortage, grower forums, external trade, Centre-State integrated strategies, research, training, rubber product manufacturing and export, climate change concerns and carbon market
National Rubber Policy is based on the short term and long term strategies identified by a Task Force constituted on the rubber sector for mitigating problems faced by rubber growers in the country.
Developmental and research activities for supporting the Natural Rubber sector for the welfare of growers are carried out through the Rubber Board by implementing the scheme Sustainable and Inclusive Development of Natural Rubber Sector in the Medium Term Framework (MTF).
The developmental activities include financial and technical assistance for planting, supply of quality planting materials, support for grower forums, training and skill development programme.

It is headquartered at Kerala, under the administration of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Board is responsible for the growth of the country’s rubber sector by helping and encouraging rubber-related research, development, extension, and training initiatives.
The Rubber Board is in charge of the Rubber Research Institute.

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