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The Rubber Board has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Singapore-based company to undertake research on natural rubber, officials said on Thursday.

A Rubber Board official said that the MoU was signed with Singapore's SMPT (Societe des Matieres Premieres Tropicales Pte Ltd), a 100 per cent subsidiary of Michelin, a major multinational tyre company, to conduct various types of research on natural rubber.

Rubber Board's Executive Director K.N. Raghavan and SMPT's Managing Director Trai-Ukos Segsarn signed the MoU through virtual mode.

According to an official statement, Raghavan said that the Indian Rubber Board has made remarkable achievements in the fields of genetic improvement of Hevea clones, disease and pest management, latex harvest technology, processing, product development and sharing of knowledge with leading research firms like the SMPT.

This collaboration would contribute towards improving sustainability as well as development of the entire rubber value chain, benefitting the growers in particular, the statement said quoting the Rubber Board head.

It said that Trai-Ukos Segsarn pointed out that a partnership with the Rubber Board in the field of research is highly appreciated and a lot of knowledge can be shared, benefitting the entire world's natural rubber industry.

SMPT had expressed their interest to collaborate with Rubber Board in various areas of research such as clone development, disease management, rubber-based agroforestry systems etc.

The Union Commerce and Industry Ministry had earlier approved Rubber Board's proposal to enter into an MoU with the SMPT for collaboration.