RUBBER
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Context
- India's natural rubber production is likely to fall sharply in October and November, as heavy rains have been disrupting tapping activity in the country's top producing southern state of Kerala.
About
- Rubber consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds.
- The main chemical constituents of rubber are elastomers, or “elastic polymers,” large chainlike molecules that can be stretched to great lengths and yet recover their original shape.
- Thailand and Indonesia are two of the leading rubber producers.
- India is the world's second-biggest consumer of natural rubber.
Rubber plant
- Hevea brasiliensis, or rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. The milky latex extracted from the tree is the primary source of natural rubber.
- brasiliensis is a tall deciduous tree.
- The tree requires a tropical or subtropical climate with a minimum of about 1,200 mm per year of rainfall, and no frost. If frost does occur, the results can be disastrous for production.
- In the wild, the tree can reach a height of up to 140 feet (43 m).
- In plantations, the trees are generally smaller for two reasons:
- Trees grow more slowly when they are tapped for latex, and
- Trees are generally cut down after only 30 years, because latex production declines as trees age, and they are no longer economically productive.
- The natural rubber tree takes between seven and ten years to deliver the first harvest.
- As latex production declines with age, rubber trees are generally felled when they reach the age of 25 to 30 years.
- Originally, the South American rubber tree grew only in the Amazon rainforest.
- Early attempts were made in 1873 to grow brasilensis outside Brazil.
- Gradually, rubber was extensively propagated in the British colonies including India.
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