The Nchelenge District Forestry Office has called for the revival of the Kenani Rubber Plantation in the District if the country is to produce natural latex for industrial use.
District Forestry Officer Silvia Lungo said Zambia can be a net producer of natural rubber if the Kenani Rubber Plantation in Luapula Province is resuscitated.
ZANIS reports that Mrs. Lungo said the natural latex that can be tapped from the rubber tree species at the plantation is still of high commercial value that can generate revenue for the country and contribute to the country’s economic transformation agenda.
She explained that natural rubber latex has many industrial uses which include the manufacture of mattresses, rubber bands, catheters, balloons among many other items, hence the need to invest in it.
Mrs. Lungo is certain that the Kenani Rubber Plantation is a commercially viable project that just needs enhanced private or public investment to take off and create many economic benefits for the local people in line with the country’s economic transformation agenda.
And Mrs. Lungo noted that the expansion of the plantation can also help combat the effects of climate change.
She said her office is already producing seedlings to give to anyone willing to plant the rubber tree elsewhere other than the plantation.