Tapping the best resources

Dr. L. M. K. Tillekeratne

[Objectives of RRI]

* Increase productivity to potential levels of the crop.

* Increase national production of Natural Rubber to meet the increasing demand.

* Optimal and sustainable utilization of land, labour and other resources.

* Maximize domestic value addition to rubber

* Encourage individual competency and self development of RRISL personnel, and in the process, improve the organizational effectiveness of the institute.

* Transfer the developed technologies through training and advisory services.

Courtesy: RRI

Centenary celebration of the Rubber Research Institute (RRI) of Sri Lanka, the oldest rubber research institute in the world, falls this month. Research on rubber in Sri Lanka was started by British planters as far back as 1909, in the field of coagulation of rubber latex obtained from the Hevea tree.

Later it was expanded by them to other areas as well, covering both agronomy and rubber technology. The Rubber Research, which was under the management of British and Europeans, was taken over by the first Sri Lankan Director C L De Silva in 1955. It is therefore worth comparing the contributions made by the RRI Sri Lanka, to global rubber development, during the European managed period and during the Sri Lankan managed period since 1955.

Most people may not know the demand rubber had at the beginning of the 16th Century. According to literature, when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, he was surprised to see a material known in Spanish language as “Bola” used by the natives of South America, to play, which bounces back when hit on the ground.

The reports say he noticed the habit that these natives had in chewing the hardened latex of the Sapodilla plant, which was known as “Chicklae” in Spanish. This is believed to be the beginning of the chewing gum industry in the world.

Commercial value

This demand for natural rubber (NR) was increased vastly with the discovery of the process of vulcanization by Charles Goodyear in 1929. By vulcanization, the value of rubber was further increased and by 1850, rubber became one of the most important and expensive commodities, income wise going in par with gold. Hence, while some Europeans were moving to Africa to extract gold, others moved towards South America for collecting rubber. By then the rubber capital of South America, ‘Manaus’ became one of the richest cities in the world.

Britishers at that time thought of secretly smuggling rubber plants out of Brazil to plant in their colonies in Asia despite the severe punishments given by the South American rulers for smuggling rubber seeds out. However, in 1876, the British adventurist, Henry Wickham was able to secretly smuggle some rubber seeds into England. He planted them in Kew gardens in London and the plantlets were brought to Sri Lanka in a catamaran. These plants originally planted in Gampaha, Henarathgoda garden is supposed to have produced initial planting materials to establish rubber plantations in the whole South East Asia and in Africa.

The yield obtained from this Wickham collection at the beginning is reported as low as 100kg per hectare per year. The RRI Sri Lanka managed throughout by the British has not been able to produce a high yielding clone for planting in Sri Lanka for high productivity. Hence in 1930, they have brought the clone bred in Prang Bazaar area of Malaysia namely Pb86 for planting here. This Pb86 clone became popular among Sri Lankans even until 1985/86 period, when the Corynespora deadly leaf disease started attacking some rubber clones planted in the country inclusive of Pb86 clone. If not for this reason the planters of Sri Lanka would not have allowed to replace Pb86 clone with the RRI Ceylon hundred series clones, particularly RRIC100 bred by Sri Lankan plant breeders at the RRI.

Increase in productivity

Yieldwise, the highest recorded by the Pb86 clone in Sri Lankan soil was only about 1200Kg/ha/yr. But the RRIC wonder clone which was adjudged the best clone in the world in the 1978 international clone trial, yields over 2500 kg/ha/yr. With the substitution of this wonder clone in rubber estates in Sri Lanka effectively starting from 1986, the average national productivity at that time of 750Kg/ha/yr was able to be increased to just over 1500Kg/ha/yr by now. This is a clear comparison of the efficiency of the Sri Lankan management of the RRI as against the management under Europeans.

Not only that, India gives propaganda for a new high yielding clone namely RRIC 400 series produced by them in the recent past. But, how many of our rulers and administrators are aware that even in that clone developed by RRI Indian scientists, one of the parents is our local RRIC100 clone?

Without stopping there, the scientists of RRISL have been able to introduce two more much higher yielding clones to the industry in the recent past namely, RRISL 200 series clones and RRISL 2000 series, which can yield over 3500 kilos of dry rubber /ha/yr. But how many Sri Lankans are aware of these contributions? Still at national forums how many, particularly administrators, ask the question as to what the RRI has contributed to the rubber industry of the country during the past?

RRI’s role

Keep aside the high yielding clone production. Who solved the burning global problems in the rubber industry such as the development of a sealant for fixing rain guards to rubber trees to minimize crop losses during monsoon times, who found an effective way of treating rubber factory effluents, which stink the neighbourhood of rubber factories? Who discovered a bleaching agent to safeguard the Crepe rubber industry of Sri lanka when Du Pont Co of USA terminated the production of the earlier used highly environment polluting oil based bleaching agent for crepe rubber?

In the very recent past RRI has developed a portable smoke house for drying RSS rubber in less than 24 hours, thereby preserving the light honey colour of the sheet. Most people are not aware that the annual fund allocation of the Treasury to run the RRI is just over Rs 125 million. How much a country like Malaysia spent annually for the same purpose? Their investment is more than hundred times the amount of money spent for the RRI Sri Lanka by the Government.

Hence under the industrial development program of reawakening Sri lanka, rulers must take this point seriously and at least remunerate scientists of the RRI Sri Lanka to stay in the institute to help the rubber Industry of Sri Lanka without leaving the country for greener pastures or without joining local institutions and universities for higher salaries. Then only we can get the best from the scientists of the RRI for the development of the rubber industry of the country, which is the most environment friendly industry for Sri Lanka, for another hundred years.

The writer is former Director of the Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute