They said the scheme, proposed at an Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) meeting in Bangkok, was unrealistic.

The plan would involve asking rubber producers to produce less or hold back stocks from the world market.

But industry sources said it would be hard to get cooperation in Asia at a time when every producing country in the region, bitten by the worst economic crisis in decades, needed to export as much as possible to earn foreign exchange.

The ANRPC started a three-day closed-door meeting on Wednesday, during which new measures have been proposed to deal with sagging rubber prices as some key members have threatened to pull out of the International Natural Rubber Organisation (INRO).

INRO is a world rubber cartel in charge of stabilising world rubber prices and managing stock.

Among the measures proposed at the meeting on Wednesday was a rationalisation of supply as some ANRPC members were convinced that stock management alone would not be enough to address the current heavy glut because the Asia crisis has hit demand hard.

They also proposed that the private sector, and not the government, play a more active role in managing stocks while not cutting prices, which could depress the world market.

Choosith Ophaswong, president of the Thai Rubber Association, told Reuters the proposal to limit rubber production was impractical, especially in Thailand where the industry is dominated by more than a million small-holders.

Such a move would require strong cooperation among rubber producing countries to keep production down -- something unlikely in the current circumstances -- and maintain selling prices at a suitable level so that they do not depress world prices, he said.

"This is the free market. Everyone has the rights to sell as they need at every level of price," said an executive at one rubber firm in Hat Yai, in southern Thailand.

"And especially at this time, when the economy is really bad, we need to sell out and not to hold stock. If we do not sell, there are many out there that will," he said.

He said that INRO had been trying to stabilise rubber prices in the world market for almost two decades but had not been successful.