Natural rubber has negative carbon footprint and turning it into a viable financial instrument can help the ailing rubber sector, according to James Jacob, managing director, Plantation Corporation of Kerala.
Dr. Jacob was making a presentation at a seminar on policies on trends and scope of carbon trading. The seminar was organised by the Directorate of Planations, Department of Industries and Commerce, for stakeholders in the plantation industry. He said voluntary carbon trading within the country should become a major agenda.
While the carbon sequestration capacity of rubber plantations is high, the scope for expansion in Kerala remained dim. At the same time, climate change will affect natural rubber production in the State, which now accounts for roughly 67% of the area under cultivation and around 75% of production. The acreage under natural rubber is increasing in the northeast, and a plantation programme backed by the tyre industry is in progress there.
Dr. S. Sudha Srinivasan, Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Plantation Management, Bengaluru, in her presentation underscored the way plantation crops were able to help carbon sequestration. She also spoke about carbon trading process in relation to the plantation sector.
Prof. Rakesh Mohan Joshi, Director, Indian Institute of Plantation Management, and A.K. Jaleel, chairman, Association of Planters Kerala, were among those who spoke.
Published - February 14, 2023 12:30 am IST
