Do extensive rubber plantation influences local environment? A case study from Tripura, Northeast India

Abstract

Tripura is the second largest Natural Rubber (NR) producing state of India. As most of the NR plantation in the state is rain dependent, it is observed that fluctuation in monsoon poses a serious threat to plantation growth. The effect of such shift and fluctuation in climate ranges from surface and ground water level variation, air quality and soil preservation. At present no assessment is available to critically review the impact of large scale NR plantation on environment. In the present paper the effect and impact of annual rainfall deficit, depleted ground water level, average local atmospheric temperature variation and rainfall ground water recharge on NR plantation is studied for the state of Tripura. Considering the large scale accelerated NR plantation in the state, an attempt has been made to figure out the consequences related to water management. The multidirectional environmental threat to the state comprising annual rainfall deficit of 23.3 %, depleted ground water level and significant rise in average atmospheric temperature may severely hit the production of NR in the region. Moreover, the estimated requirement of water to produce ribbed smokes sheet (RSS) will may escalate to more than 152140 kiloliters in the next ten years. The predicted amount of waste water generated (directly or indirectly) in RSS collection and industry processing effluents may cause large environmental issue due to their open disposal in many cases. Hence, also claims a threat to the rubber production and growth of the sector.