Sri Lanka’s second rubber research institute was opened last Saturday (28) at Monaragala Kumbukkana.
This rubber research institute was opened under the patronage of the Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera, and the amount spent by the government was Rs. 11 million.
The event was organized by the Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute and the new chairman of that institute, Mr. Sarath Chandrasiri Withana and a group of officials participated in it.
At present, 16,000 hectares of rubber have been cultivated in Monaragala district. The Sri Lanka Rubber Development Department has planned to expand this amount to 50,000 hectares in Monaragala district. At present, about 1000 small scale farmers are engaged in Monaragala rubber cultivation and it is planned to double that amount.
Until now, Monaragala rubber farmers had to send samples of latex from Monaragala to Agalawatta to check the quality of the latex. Because of this, the quality of the rubber changed and it became a serious problem for the production of high quality latex.
Considering this situation, Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute was able to establish a new rubber research institute in the Kumbukkana area of Monaragala district.
As a new crop, rubber cultivation is very popular in Monaragala district. By opening this rubber research and demonstration center, every farmer has got the opportunity to earn an additional amount of Rs. 80,000.
Also, an environment-friendly smoke chamber has also been introduced for drying rubber using new technology. This new technology has also benefited the industry 16 times more than the previous rubber fumigation method.
The Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industry, Mr. Mahinda Amaraweera, who participated in the opening of this rubber research institute, expressed his opinion and said that no further steps will be taken to use the lands of the lowland wet zone for rubber cultivation.
Therefore, the Minister stated that steps will be taken to popularize rubber cultivation in suitable lands in the dry zone and he also emphasized that due to the use of lands suitable for cultivation of other crops with high economic value in the lowland wet zone of the lower country, especially in Kalutara district, the country is not getting any significant income from those lands.
