A Glimpse Of Rubber- Plantation On Tripura Roads

India ranks third in production of natural rubber (Caoutchouc)  after Thailand and Indonesia. Tripura stands second after Kerala in the natural rubber production after Kerala. Last December while traveling on Tripura roads I captured  few clicks related to rubber-plantation.

The rubber grown in Tripura is of superior quality. Rubber sheets hanging on both sides of the road is a common sight on Tripura roads.

Another common sight is these rubber sheet spread on road itself for further drying.

For a closer look our driver Sajol stopped the taxi and lead us to the rubber grove.

In the year 1963 Forest Department of Tripura  introduced rubber plantation on trial basis which soon became a success. Rubber is harvested in the form of latex from the trees. Latex is a milky and colloid liquid which is secreted from the rubber trees after an incision is marked on the tree.

This latex is then collected in vessels or coconut shells  which are attached to the trees. This process is called tapping.

Halved section of a coconut shell is commonly used as a collector vessel in Tripura. These shells are supported by a wire holder that encircles the rubber tree. Tapping is mostly done in early mornings as the internal pressure of the tree is highest then.

Look at the way an incision is designed. The tapping process takes about for four to five hours.Latex naturally coagulates  hence blocks the tapping tube. It is very crucial to send the material for processing before it coagulated. The raw material now goes for further processing. The collected latex is transferred into coagulation tanks for the preparation of dry rubber or transferred into air-tight containers.

My kids collected seeds which were lying on the ground.

Sajol found a sapling and gifted it to my kids.