Rubber industry looks at expansion into non-traditional areas
Monday, 15 July 2013 00:35
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By Cheranka Mendis
The rubber industry is looking at augmented expansion projects in non-traditional areas to reach a self sustainable level in resources and is in the process of finalising a master plan for the industry.
Rubber Research Institute Director Dr. W.M. Gamini Seneviratne, speaking at the 94th Annual General Meeting of the Colombo Rubber Traders Association, noted that the industry has collectively agreed and put in place a secretariat to study various ways in which the country can increase its productivity and become a stronger player in the global market. The secretariat will focus on all areas – from cultivation to product manufacturing, to policies and strategies to be adapted etc.
“One of the strategies is to expand our rubber cultivation so that other companies can come in and develop it as joint ventures,” he said.
Expansion will take place in non-traditional areas, moving away from the wet regions where rainfall pattern is higher. “We need to be able to become self sufficient in raw material in this country.” After careful studies, eastern and northern regions have been identified for the process.
In 2004, Rubber Research Institute conducted a series of experiments in the east and has marked Padiyathalawa, Maha Oya and Uhana in the Ampara district and Chelakkadi in Batticaloa district for rubber plantation.
Trial experiments have already commenced and the delay in starting the project was due to the cash-crop plantations the people in the area was engaged in. “We had to educate them and convince them that the perennial crop would bring steady revenue to develop their livelihood unlike the chena cultivation they were engaged in,” Seneviratne said.
The target is to plant close to 1,500 hectares of land during the planting season in the September-October period this year. Nearly 19,000 hectares were planted in 2012 in the Eastern Province. In the Northern Province, demonstration plots have been set up with the help of Sri Lanka Army. People in the area have been supplied with free plants to encourage rubber production.
“Net profit per acre should be approximately Rs. 25,000 per hectare if the prices remain at Rs. 300-400,” he said.
Inter cropping has also been introduced, he said. All District Secretariats, Agri Departments and the Army are working together to develop the industry. What is needed is the support from donor agencies, he said.
Rubber clones have also been developed by the RRI such as RIC100, 102, 121 which are capable of giving over 2,500 hectares of yield per year. Even though rubber replanting has increased since 2009, it is still at a rate lower than 3% which is the commended rate of replanting at present.
Even though 70-80% of the rubber produced is consumed internally, Sri Lankans have a strong presence in the solid tyre sector which consumes approximately 62% of the total rubber produced. Sri Lanka is the world leader in solid tyre supply, supplying 35% of the world requirement.
In latex based industries, which consumes some 20,000/30,000 metric tons per annum from local production (15% of the total production), which is needed to produce surgical, agricultural, examination and various other types of gloves, the country is the fourth largest glove manufacturer in the world. The top three world glove manufactures are Malaysia, Thailand and India. The country also plays a key role in rubber balloon manufacturing although only three companies are currently engaged in the sector. “However, the world’s largest balloon manufacturer is based here,” Seneviratne said. “This is a Korean based company.”
While the country produces a variety of other rubber related products to further develop the industry, there needs to be firm concentration on improving the automobile part manufacturing industry in Sri Lanka, he noted.
