KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) — The rubber industry is in the recovery stage amid slow production of the commodity, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Unggah Embas said today.
The rubber industry has seen an uptrend of the SMR 20 rubber price, which increased to US$7.40 (RM22.94) from US$6.76 (RM20.95) previously, he said.
“This is an encouraging trend and we hope the trend will continue as this is very important to us to ensure our rubber industry (production) remains sustainable,” he told a press conference after opening the two-day National Rubber Economic Conference 2013, in the capital, Wednesday.
Unggah said the price uptrend was very critical as 90 per cent of rubber producers were smallholders and most of them relied on rubber prices.
He said the rubber industry should emphasise on replanting especially in Sabah and Sarawak as new areas were available.
“Over the past 15 to 20 years, rubber is not productive. So, we need to do replanting and new planting because our objective by 2020 we should be able to increase the yield to 2,000 kg per hectare.
“One way to increase the income among smallholders is to increase the production by exploring new areas for replanting and new planting,” he said.
Currently, Malaysia’s rubber yield is only 1,200 to 1,500 kg per hectare.
Under the National Key Economic Area (NKEA), the rubber industry has been identified to maintain the rubber tappable area at one milliom hectares while increasing yield by 2020.
“Under the NKEA, it is projected that the Malaysian rubber industry will contribute RM52.9 billion to the Gross National Income (GNI) by 2020 compared to RM19.5 billion in 2009,” he said.
Unggah said the rubber industry is still relevant and recognised as one of the important contributors to Malaysian economic growth.
Last year, the rubber industry contributed almost RM36.4 billion in export earnings, nine per cent lower than RM40 billion in the previous year, owing to the decline in natural rubber prices.
“This industry should continuously innovate, including adopting latest technologies to maintain its competitiveness.
“In this context, concerted efforts should be made to encourage the adoption and commercialisation of new technologies and innovations developed by the Malaysia Rubber Board and the industry,” he said, stressing that new technologies will ensure that the right clones were planted and they will definitely enhance land productivity of the smallholdings and estates in future.
The selection and planting of high-yielding clones are crucial decisions to be made to ensure the economic viability of the smallholdings or estates, he added.
The conference, which started Wednesday, will cover the rubber market outlook for next year, global economic outlook, future roles of the International Tripartite Rubber Council and the proposed Regional Rubber Futures Market.
–BERNAMA
