By TC News Desk
Agartala, 4th September 2025: After weeks of anxiety among rubber cultivators, the Tripura Rubber Board has initiated a pioneering step to protect the state’s rubber plantations from a fast-spreading fungal disease that has caused premature leaf fall.
Farmers across several districts had reported that heavy rainfall triggered fungal infections in rubber trees, leading to large-scale leaf shedding and even the death of some plants. The situation forced many cultivators to halt the collection of rubber sap, adding to their distress.
Acting on repeated appeals from rubber farmers and the Rubber Association, the Rubber Board collected samples from the affected plantations and confirmed the fungal outbreak. To combat the crisis, the Board arranged for a special drone and operator from Tamil Nadu through a tendering process to carry out pesticide spraying operations.
On Thursday morning at 10 am, the initiative was officially launched near East Champamura RPS in Bishalgarh subdivision. For the first time in Tripura, pesticides and preventive medicines were sprayed on rubber trees using drones—marking a technological breakthrough in the state’s plantation sector.
Officials confirmed that drone-based spraying will now be conducted almost daily across all affected districts to save the rubber trees. The move has brought much-needed relief to the state’s rubber growers, many of whom had been in despair over the loss of their livelihood.
With the timely intervention of the Rubber Board, cultivators are hopeful that the fungal disease can be contained and normal tapping activities will soon resume.
