Drought-tolerant clones are the need of the hour

摘要

The devastating drought running riot in the rubber producing countries in recent times has seriously hit the natural rubber output. In the wake of supply shortage, rubber price has hit the roof and stood at the all time high of over US$ 3.9 a kg. Production has fallen shar-ply in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and China. The global warming continues unabated and a further rise in price, consequent on continued supply crunch, cannot be ruled out.