Two new cinnamon varieties yielding bumper harvest found
Ishara Mudugamuwa
The Cinnamon Research Institute has found two cinnamon varieties
which could yield a bumper harvest. The two named Sri Wijaya and Sri
Gemunu were developed following research conducted by the Cinnamon
Research Institute.
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Cinnamon
* Cinnamon has been cultivated from time
immemorial in Sri Lanka.
* Sri Lanka cinnamon has a very thin,
smooth bark with a light-yellowish brown colour and a highly
fragrant aroma.
* According to the International Herald
Tribune, in 2006 Sri Lanka produced 90 percent of the
world’s cinnamon. |
Palopitiya Cinnamon Research Institute, Research Officer in Charge,
Gamini Wijesinghe said these two varieties belong to the Peni Miris
group of plants.
“Among these two, Sri Gemunu yields a bumper harvest.
Sri Wijaya is not of very high quality but it also produces a big
harvest,” he said.
Wijesinghe said: “We can get 1,100 kilograms of cinnamon barks from
one hectare of Sri Gemunu cultivation and 3.2 percent of bark oil and
3.4 percent of leaf oil from one hectare of land.
We can also get 74.7 percent of Cinnamaldehyde and 88.5 percent of
Eugenol from one hectare of Sri Gemunu.
A yield of 1,300 kilograms of barks could be obtained from one
hectare of Sri Wijaya. We can also get 1.4 percent of bark oil, 2.9
percent of leaf oil, 48.4 percent of Cinnamaldehyde and 90.5 percent of
Eugenol from one hectare of land.”
“We can obtain 500 kilograms from one hectare of land at present and
we double the harvest from these new species.
There are more than 30,000 hectares of cinnamon cultivated land in
Sri Lanka and we can harvest 13,000 metric tonnes.
The harvest will be increased in the future with the introduction of
these two new species,” Wijesinghe said.
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