More than 42% of the world’s population is employed in agriculture, making it by far the most common occupation. Agriculture production is always an important economic contributor to any economy. When we talk about the agriculture industry, it means an industry which is confined to the art, science or practice of producing food, feed, fiber and many other desired goods by the proper raising of plants and animals. At the same time, it also denotes a broad array of activities which are essential to food and material production which includes a wide range of techniques for raising and processing livestock, for crop planting and harvesting, nutrient management. This industry depends heavily on engineering and technology including the biological and physical sciences. There are various closely related activities which as whole influences the agriculture industry.
There are two varieties of rubber—natural rubber and synthetic rubber. Natural rubber production is mainly involved in three major areas—Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. In India, rubber production is at the rate of 6% per annum. Infact, today India is considered as the third largest producer of rubber in the world. Growing and processing natural rubber is considered to be one of the most complex agricultural industries. Natural rubber production combines botany, chemistry, and sophisticated machinery with dexterous skills of the people who harvest the trees.
While natural rubber production is a part of the agricultural industry, products made of synthetic rubber is used for various purposes in the rubber industry. One of the most common rubber product used in agricultural industry is rubber tire. Infact, rubber tires account for 60-70% of all natural and synthetic rubber used. There are agricultural tires used for various agricultural purposes. The farm tractor, wagon, forklift, backhoe, loader, combines, grain carts, pivots etc. run on rubber tires and these are used for a wide variety of special services such as gardening, moving, municipal machines, terrain vehicles, snow groomers, etc. The agricultural tires are designed with unique properties that help them to operating on different soils composition and moisture content.
Another rubber product used in agricultural industry is rubber flooring for stalls and livestock which can take a lot of abuse. Longevity and wear is the key in these applications. Made of a combination of virgin polymers and post-consumer processed rubber, these agricultural rubber mats offer the much sought after combination of strength and softness. Besides these, there are rubber hoses and pipes and belts used in the agricultural industry.
Rubber Products in the Agricultural industry are as follows:
- Rubber Tires
- Rubber Flooring
- Rubber Hoses
- Rubber Tubing
- Rubber Washers