According to a study jointly conducted by Toms Joseph, Tharian George and PK Viswanathan of the Kottayam-based Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII), India's timber deficit can be made good by proper utilisation of rubber wood through advanced technology which in turn can rescue both the wood industry and the growers out of the present crisis.

The RRII experts stated that country's estimated annual requirement of timber is more than 30 million cubic metre and the imported value of wood primarily in rough form was around Rs 960 crore in 1996-97. The annual availability of rubber wood in the country is around 1.27 million cubic metre and the projected estimate for theyear 2010 is 4.24 million cubic metre.

The stem wood of the rubber tree consisting 60 per cent of the total is used for various industrial applications. But the share of rubber stem wood consumed by the secondary processing sector is only 11.3 per cent while the packaging case and plywood sectors account for 55.4 and 21.3 per cent of the consumption respectively. This is in sharp contrast with the status of rubber wood industry of other major natural rubber producing countries namely, Malaysia and Thailand which export value-added rubber wood based end products primarily, furniture.

The actual value addition of Indian rubber wood industry is estimated to be only Rs 836.26 crore while the potential value addition is Rs 3506.12 crore.

The RRII experts have further stated that Indian rubber wood industry is characterised by high presence of low value added items, low level of technology and marginal expoiltation of internal and external markets. The current estimated gross vaue addition is Rs 836 crorewith an average value addition to the extent of 296 per cent. The potential gross value addition is Rs 3506 crore with an average value addition to the tune of 1561 per cent. Therefore, the value added foregone in Indian rubber wood sector due to the low level of commercial exploitation is Rs 670 crore.

In order to promote eco-friendly use of timber and solve the prevailing crisis of growers, the experts suggested establishment of a promotional agency with regulatory powers supplemented with R&D facilities to implement and monitor the prescribed standards for primary and secondary processing and downstream manufacturing. There should be provision for institutional support in terms of market intelligence on domestic and external markets and incentives for manufacturing value added products.

There should be an adoption of appropriate technology and development of a panel products manufacturing base to absorb wastes and logs of smaller dimensions. There should also be a perspective plan to ensure a regulatedgrowth of the rubber wood industry.

The ensuing recession in Indian economy has its impact on the rubber wood sector. The dwindling price of natural rubber and consequent uncertainty have prompted growers to postpone replanting. This has cut down the market arrivals of rubber wood logs by around 40 per cent. But the dearth in supply could not stimulated a rise in log price demand as demand from all the consuming sectors also has drastically declined. Already 40 per cent of the saw mills, 60 per cent of the veneer mills and 20 per cent of the plywood units have been closed temporarily.

The secondary processing units also have reduced substantially their activities. The problem of lower demand is aggravated by the imports of cheaper plywood and timber from southeast Asian countries due to devaluation of the currencies there.