The Rubber Board has launched a comprehensive video series designed to enhance skills and improve quality standards among natural rubber growers in Northeast India. According to reports from The Hindu BusinessLine, the videos cover five critical aspects of natural rubber processing: Rubber Tapping, Rain Guarding, Grading, Rubber Sheet Making and Scientific Smokehouses. Produced in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam, these multilingual videos are intended to facilitate wider outreach among rubber growers and stakeholders across the natural rubber ecosystem.
The educational video series is part of the ₹150-crore iSPEED programme, which aims to strengthen the natural rubber sector by improving the skills of nearly three lakh rubber growers across the Northeast. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, the programme will provide structured training while supporting the establishment of modern processing infrastructure, including rubber sheeting machines and scientifically designed smokehouses. The videos were formally launched by M. Vasanthagesan, Executive Director, Rubber Board in the presence of Siju T. Nair, Rubber Production Commissioner. With rubber plantation activities under Project INROAD nearing completion, the next phase of development has gathered momentum under iSPEED with a focus on enhancing productivity and quality through skill development and modern infrastructure.
The videos were developed over the last one year with technical support from the Rubber Board and the Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII). According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the modules combine animation with real-life field demonstrations, making scientific processing practices easy to understand and adopt. Mohan Kurian, Chairman INROAD Project, emphasized that skill development and adoption of scientific practices are essential for improving both productivity and quality in the natural rubber sector. These multilingual videos will serve as an effective training resource for growers and complement the Rubber Board's ongoing extension efforts across the country.
Project INROAD represents a unique partnership between the Indian tyre industry and the Rubber Board of India. As reported by The Hindu BusinessLine, the project has facilitated nearly 1.8 lakh hectares of new natural rubber plantations across 113 districts in the Northeast India over the last five years. This makes it the largest rubber plantation development programme undertaken in the country, with rubber plantation activities under Project INROAD nearing completion. The initiative has successfully established the foundation for the next phase of development under iSPEED, which focuses on enhancing productivity and quality through skill development and modern infrastructure.
Sanjiv Saxena, Convener, ATMA Supply Chain & Resources (SCR) Group, stated that the objective of participating member companies under INROAD is to ensure natural rubber growers benefit most from a stronger natural rubber value chain. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, by improving productivity and quality, the initiative aims to help farmers realize better returns while strengthening the sustainability of the entire ecosystem. The focus on skill development and modern infrastructure through iSPEED will help farmers realize improved returns while supporting the long-term sustainability of the natural rubber sector across the Northeast region.
