Rubber is found in the fluid of some specific plants but it can also be produced synthetically. Synthetic rubber is produced through the process of polymerization of various monomers.

Naturally, rubber is produced by the process of tapping of the plant called Hevea Brasiliensis. The rubber tree is a native of the Amazon River basin in South America. The ideal rubber growing regions should be 8 degree North of Equator, 10 degree South of Equator, high temperature, altitude not beyond 400m and high humidity.

These plants generally have 32 years of economic life but they may live up to 100 years or even more than that. The plantation would start its yield from 6th year onwards. The natural rubber produced is processed to convert into a storable and marketable form.

The basic property of rubber is that it comes back to its original shape if it is twisted or stretched but if heat is applied to the rubber, it won’t return to its original shape easily.

The rubber industry produces wide range products like auto tyre, auto tubes, automobile parts, footwear, belts, cables & wires, battery boxes etc. Block rubber, Preserved Latex, Crepes and sheets are some forms in which rubber is produced and used.

India is the fourth largest producer of Natural Rubber, after Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Thailand is the world’s largest producer of natural rubber. It produced 2,970 in 2007. Indonesia is the second largest producer contributing around 29% of the world’s total natural rubber production. Malaysia produced 1,215 thousand tonnes and occupies the third rank in terms of production.

India is the fourth largest producer of natural rubber in the world. In the year 2007, India produced 810 thousand tonnes of natural rubber, down from 853 thousand tonnes in the previous year. India contributes 8% of the world natural rubber production.

Other major producers include Vietnam and China, contributing 6% each to the world production.

AREA UNDER RUBBER
IN MAIN PRODUCING COUNTRIES
(In Thousand Hectares)
Territory	End of	Total Area
Indonesia	2005	3,279.0
Thailand	2005	2,133.0
Malaysia	2005	1,250.0
China	2004	600.0
India	2006	615.0
Vietnam	2005	465.0
Brazil	2005	118.0
Sri Lanka	2003	128.9
Nigeria	1999	150.0
Liberia	1999	108.9
Myanmar	1995	104.8
Cote d'Ivoire	2005	118.0
Philippines	1999	92.0
Cameroon	2005	40.4

As mentioned earlier, Rubber plantations give yield only after 6 years of being planted and are productive for about 25 years. The above chart gives us an idea about the area under rubber in the main producing countries of the world. Indonesia, the second largest producer has 3,279 thousand hectares under rubber. While, Thailand which is the largest producer has 2,133 thousand hectares planted with rubber. This implies that Thailand has greater yield than Indonesia.

Malaysia and China have 1,250 and 600 thousand hectares under rubber respectively.

India has around 615 thousand hectares under rubber plantations. As per the Rubber Board, India now occupies the first rank in terms of productivity at 1,879 kg/ha.

China being the fastest growing economy of the world, is also the world’s largest natural rubber consuming country. At 2,534 thousand tonnes it consumes 27% of the rubber consumed world over. USA is the second largest consumer of rubber at 1,017 thousand tonnes, followed by Japan at 886 thousand tonnes.

India is the fourth largest consumer of natural rubber at 849 thousand tonnes. Other major consuming countries include Malaysia, Korea and Indonesia.

India’s natural rubber production has been increasing steadily over the past decade. The production grew at the rate of 10.50% in the year 2006, the highest in the past decade, but declined for the first time in 2007. India produced 810 thousand tonnes in 2007 compared to 853 thousand tonnes in 2006. Consumption too has been rising steadily. It grew at the rate of 3.3% in 2006 and 4.17% in 2007. Consumption grew from 517 thousand tonnes in 1995 to 8149 thousand tonnes in 2007.

The supply gap has improved from a deficit of 17 thousand tonnes to a surplus of 38 thousand tonnes. Again, the stocks available also depend on the import and export taking place. Production has grown at an average rate of around 5% per year during the past decade. Extremes of 0.48% and 1.42% were witnessed in 2001 and 2002, while 10.45% growth was seen in 2003. This is because when rubber trees are replanted, the new trees take a minimum of six to seven years to start giving latex. Thus this kind of decline in production can be expected for some years when replanting takes place.

The rubber growing regions in India can be classified under two major zones, traditional and non-traditional, on the basis of agro-climatic conditions.

Traditional Regions: Rubber cultivation in India has been traditionally confined to hinterlands of southwest coast, mainly in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Kerala and Tamil Nadu together constitute the traditional rubber growing regions in the country. Kerala alone contributes 92% of the total rubber produced in India and an area of 494,400 ha under rubber plantations. Tamil Nadu contributes another 3% of the total natural rubber production.

Non-Traditional Regions: These are hinterlands of coastal Karnataka, Goa, Konkan Region of Maharashtra, hinterlands of coastal Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, the northeastern states, Andaman and Nicobar Islands etc, where rubber is now being grown.

In recent years among non-traditional region, Tripura, has become one of the most thrust areas for Rubber growing because of its well acceptance worldwide. In fact, Tripura was declared the "Second Rubber Capital of India" by the Rubber Board. India has succeeded in Rubber cultivation due to research and extension work undertaken by the Rubber Board. The worldwide demand for natural rubber from Tripura is mainly because of its elasticity.

The North-Eastern region contributes up to 4% of the total production, while Karnataka contributes 2%. An area of 64,883 ha is covered by rubber plantations in the north-eastern region.