Rubber cultivation in sri lanka

The rubber plant originates in the Amazon rainforest of South America (Brazil). This tree belongs to the genus Euphor Blaceal, which belongs to the genus Hevea. The species used for commercial cultivation here is known by the botanical name of Hevea brasilinsis (Hevea brasilinsis).

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Rubber is widely grown in South Asian countries. It is said that kiwi was cultivated in the Botanic Gardens in England and Sir Henry Wickham brought 1919 seedlings in 1876 and cultivated them for the first time in the Henarathgoda Botanic Gardens in Gampaha. This plant should have a uniformly distributed rainfall of 2000mm - 4000mm and a deep soil with good drainage. Rubber cultivation in Sri Lanka has spread to Kalutara, Ratnapura and Gampaha districts. This expansion is mainly done by small scale rubber plantation owners and accounts for about 70% of the total area. Rubber cultivation, which is one of the major plantation crops in our country, is a crop that brings foreign exchange to Sri Lanka.

• Rubber nursery management

The rubber crop is traditionally propagated by seeds and the nursery uses a well-maintained healthy plant suitable for economic use.

• Ingredients for the nursery

In order to produce high quality grafted plants, it is essential that both the receptive plants and the grafted branches are of high quality. Obtaining a high quality seedling or receptor seedling mainly depends on the seed selection process followed. For grafted bark, the age of grafted twigs should be less than ten years. It should be well fertilized and pruned annually. It is also important to keep the nursery clones separate from the mix.

• Seed sand selection for nurseries.

The only existing method to check the quality of the seeds is to see if they germinate within 07-14 days after sowing in a sand nursery. Selected seeds are heavy and flaky with a shiny surface.

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There is a huge demand locally for rubber products in Sri Lanka. Demand for this specialty has grown significantly as a result of recent corporate scandals, including the production of surgical instruments for export and the manufacture of mattresses and rugs. The same is true of foreign market conditions. There is a huge demand in the world for green Sri Lankan crepe rubber. Cray rubber is used in the manufacture of surgical instruments for heart patients and sheet rubber is also in high demand. Sheet rubber is mainly used in the manufacture of tires. In this context, the local and foreign market conditions are increasing day by day and rubber cultivation will be a very productive crop for both the rubber farmer and Sri Lanka in the present and in the future.

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