The state minister for education and works PJ Joseph, who called upon the Union commerce and industry minister Murasoli Maran, also asked the centre to revise upwards the benchmark price of rubber at Rs 34.05 per kg to make it remunerative for rubber cultivators. Maran has agreed to instruct STC to procure additional rubber and look into the issue of revising benchmark prices, Joseph said.

Joseph said though STC had procured about 29,400 tonnes since August 1997, it was not enough to hold the prices of rubber, which is cultivated by about 9 lakh small growers in the state. The state also requested the centre to continue with the present ban on import of natural rubber. The centre had suspended import of natural rubber against advance licence on February this year and allowed exporters of rubber goods to purchase domestic rubber from STC at the international prices. The minister said price of RSS-4 rubber had come down to Rs 30.13 per kg in 1998 from the Rs 51.12 per kg prices prevailed in October 1996. However, the prices of RSS-4 has improved marginally to Rs 31.00 per kg now. Joseph said small growers in the state were being forced to switch over to other crops as the present prices were unremunerative. He said the centre should make efforts to increase exports of rubber from the country by giving incentives to exporters and discouraging imports of polyurethane and raw materials used for itsproduction through tariff measures. Polyurethane or synthetic rubber is used by tyre manufacturers to reduce the input of natural rubber.

The Kerala minister also asked the Centre to raise the issue of banning import of agricultural products which are in surplus in the country at the forthcoming WTO ministerial meeting at Seattle in November.