Rubber information

1. Advances in production
technology of rubber

3.  Common name: Rubber, para rubber
 Botanical name: Hevea brasilliensis
 Family: Euphorbiaceae
 Chromosome number: 2n=36
 Hevea brasilliensis - The only source of natural
rubber (NR)
 Natural rubber found in latex of plant
 The white or yellow latex occurs in latex vessels in
the bark.

4. Rubber plantation Rubber tree

5.  Origin : Brazil
 Introduced to Tropical Asia in 1876 through Kew Garden in the
UK with the seeds brought from Brazil.
 It is now distributed in the tropical regions of Asia, Africa and
America
 Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, China and India
 Indonesia - maximum area (35.16 lakh ha)
 Thailand - maximum production (20.33 lakh ton)
 India: Kerala, Kanyakumari (TN) (98% area), Karnataka, Assam,
Goa, MH, Odissa

6. In 1876 Sir Henry
Wickham took a few seeds
from Brazil and planted
them in Kew garden.
Distributed to Ceylon,
India, Singapore, Java and
Malaysia.

7. In India,
• Area : 5, 23,300 ha
• Production : 5, 06,900 tonnes
• Productivity : 915 kg / ha
• India is the fifth largest rubber growing
country in the world.
• India is self sufficient with regard to the
requirement of natural rubber.

8. Uses
• Preparation of different parts of automobiles.
• Preparation of tyres of vehicles (52% of production),
cycle tyres and tubes (12% of production).
• Tread rubber (5%), footwear (11 %), belts and hoses
(6 %), foam (4 %), others (10 %).
• > 50,000 different products are prepared from rubber.

9.  Rubber belongs to Euphorbiaceae, a large family
with about 280 genera and 8,000 species
 Genus Hevea comprises of 10 species
 Crossed inter-specifically by artificial pollination
 Pollinaton - honeybees and midges

10.  Natural rubber is found in the latex of plants over 895
species belonging to 31 genera of 70 families.
• Manigot glaziovii : Cera rubber
• Ficus elastica : Indian rubber (Malvaceae)
• Castiolla elastica : Panama rubber (Apocyanaceae)
• Parthenium argenatum :Guayul rubber (Compositae)
• Taraxacum koksaghyz or Hevea brassiliensis : Para
rubber (Euphorbiaceae)

11.  Hevea benthamiana
 Hevea brasiliensis
 Hevea camargoana
(Dwarf growth habit)
 Hevea camporam
 Hevea guianensis
 Hevea microphylla
 Hevea nitida
 Hevea pauciflora
 Hevea rigidifolia
 Hevea spruceana
Ortet selection : It is a
method of systematic
screening of outstanding
individuals from a mature
seedling plantation, its
vegetative multiplication
and subsequent
evaluation in comparison
to the popular clones.

12. Hevea brasiliensis
 Commercially cultivated one
 Supplies more than 99% of the world’s rubber
Hevea benthamiana
 Tree is medium sized, trunk swollen at the base
 Flowers are yellow and seeds are small
 Latex is white and good quality rubber can be obtained
Hevea camargoana
 This is the most recently reported species
 The trees are small to medium and the flowers are
whitish with rose red colouration at the base with 3-5
anthers
 This species has dwarf growth habit

13. Hevea guianensis
 It is tall, attaining a height of 24 - 27m, trunk is cylindrical
and grows in well drained soil
 It produces cream yellow latex which is of inferior quality
Hevea microphylla
Trees are slender, reaching a height of 21m with a whip like
trunk
It has the largest female flowers in the genus
Latex is white and watery with very little rubber

14.  Hevea brasiliensis - quick growing tree
 Rarely exceeding 25 m in height in plantations
 But wild trees of over 40 m
 The trunk of the tree tapers from the base and is conical or
cylindrical in shape and shows a periodicity of growth

15.  The tree has a well-developed
tap root 2-5 m long after 3 years,
with laterals several meters long.
 The lateral roots emerge from the
tap-root below the collar. They
can reach up to 10 m and can
make a dense network of feeder
roots and root hairs in the upper
soil layers.
Root

16. Leaves
 Young leaves are dark red in
color, while other leaves are
green on top and grayish-
green underneath.
 Leaves alternate, palmate
and each leaf with 3 leaflets.
 A fully grown leaf has a
diameter of 15-20 cm

17. Trifoliate glabrous leaves, spirally
arranged, reddish when young, green
when mature.
Bear three extra floral nectaries at the
point where they give rise to leaflets.
Nectar is secreted only on the new
flush at the time of flowering.
The leaflets have short petioles and
are elliptic or obovate in shape with
base acute and apex acuminate,
margins entire and pinnate venation.

19. Inflorescence
Inflorescence is many branched,
bearing flowers of both sexes.
Inflorescence is borne in the axils of
basal leaves of new shoots produced
after wintering during December.
Larger female flowers borne at the
end of central and main branches.
Smaller and numerous male flowers
are seen on the other parts.

20.  Inflorescence - panicle of separate staminate
and pistillate flowers borne in the axils of basal
leaves of new shoots that grow out after
wintering
 Flowers small, greenish-white, dioecious
 Female flowers usually larger than the male
ones
 In the female flower, gynoeicium composed
of 3 united carpels forming a 3-lobed, 3-
celled ovary with a single ovule in each cell
Flowering and pollination

21. Pistillate flowers are terminal to the central stem
and other major branches of the inflorescence
Smaller and more numerous staminate flowers
make up the rest
Both flowers are shortly stalked and scented
Neither flower has petals but rather five triangular
lobes
Staminate flowers have two rings of five stamens
each borne on a stalk

23. Fruits
• Only a small proportion of female
flowers set fruit and of these 30-50%
fall off after a month and more fall off
later.
• The mature fruit is a large, compressed,
3-lobbed capsule, 3-5 cm in diameter,
with 3 oil-containing seeds.
• The capsule bursts open at the end of
the rainy season.

24. Seeds
• Hevea seed is oval, 1-2 cm long and weights
between 3 and 6 g
• It has a hard, shiny coat which is brown or
grayish-brown in color
• Seeds are viable for a short time only and must
therefore be planted as soon as possible after
harvesting
• Viable seeds germinate in 3-25 days
• Germination is hypogeal

25. • Bark - important part of the tree - it contains tissues that produce the latex.
• It consists of a pith, wood and a cortex, which is separated from the wood by
the cambium (regenerative tissue).
• In the cortex, there are 3 separate concentric layers: the outer corky layer
(periderm), an underlying parenchyma with a large numbers of stone cells
and finally the phloem with the latex vessels (phellem).
• The thickness of the bark and the proportion of tissue vary with different
clones and with the age of tree.
Bark

26. Fig 1: Cross section of an adult rubber tree showing the composition of the bark
and the position of the latex vessels in the soft bark tissue

27. Fresh latex
• Fresh latex consists of a
colloidal suspension of
rubber particles in an
aqueous serum.
• The content of rubber
hydrocarbon, with formula
(C5H8)n, varies from 25 to
40 %, with an average of
about 30 %.

28. Latex consists of four main fractions
• Rubber particles (25-40 % of total latex volume),
variable in shape, but usually pear- shaped or spherical,
and about 6 nm to 5 micron in size.
• Lutoids (10-20%), 0.5 nm to 3 micron in size, having an
impact on the stability and flow of the latex.
• Frey-Wyssling particles (5%) which play probably a role
in the coagulation and oxido-reduction processes.
• Other elements like proteins, resins, sugars, glycosides,
tannins, alkaloids, mineral salts and secondary
metabolites. (Delabarre and Serrier, 2000)

30. RRII - Rubber Research Institute of India (1995)
Kottaym, Kerala
The Central Experiment Station of the institute at
Kottaym.
It is a member of IRRDB (International Rubber
Research and Development Board, Malaysia).
Rubber Board is a statutory body constituted by
the Government of India, under the Rubber Act 1947.

31. IRRI, Indonesia - Indonesian Rubber Research
Institute.
RRIM, Malaysia - Rubber Research Institute of
Malaysia.
Malaysian Rubber Board
RRISL, Sri Lanka - Rubber Research Institute of Sri
Lanka.
RRIV, Vietnam - Rubber Research Institute of
Vietnam.

32. Research stations
Research stations under
RRII under different
agro-climatic situations
 Agartala (Tripura)
 Guwahati (Assam)
 Tura (Meghalaya)
 Kolsab (Mizoram)
RRII has also set up Regional
Research Stations at
1) Dapchari (Maharastra)
2) Kamakhyanagar (Odisha)
3) Nagarakatta (WB)
4) Sukma (Chattisgarh)
5) Parliar (TN)
6) Nettana (Karnataka)
7) Padiyoor (Kerala)

34. Soil
• Deep, fertile, permeable soils for better growth
• Lateritic, alluvial, red sandy soil with less ‘K’
availability
• pH : 4.5 to 6

35. Climate
• Warm humid climate
• 10º C latitude on either side of the equator
• Higher production – 6º C
• Temp.: 20-30º C
• RH : 80 % RF : 2000-2500 mm
• Warm and sunny days: > 6 hours
• Altitude : 300 m above MSL
• > 500 m above MSL – growth rate will be slow

37. •Primary clone:
Mother tree is of unknown parentage, selection of mother tree
is based on superior performance in the existing plantation.
Eg. Tjir - I, GT I, PB 86, PR 107 and PB 28/59
•Secondary clone:
Mother tree is evolved by controlled pollination between 2
primary clones.
Eg. RRIM 600 (Tjir I x PB 86) and RRII 105 (Tjir I x GT – I)
•Tertiary clone:
Mother tree is evolved by controlled pollination in which at
least one or both parents are secondary clones.
Eg. RRIM 703 (RRIM 600 x RRIM 500)
Clones

38. •The planting materials approved by the Rubber Board are
classified into three categories I, II, III.
Description of categories:
•Category I - It comprises of materials approved for large scale
planting.
•Category II - It comprises clones, which have shown their merit
in performance in India over long or medium term periods.
•Category III - In this, planting materials are divided into (a),
(b), (c) and (d).
Categories of clone

39. • Category III - In this planting materials are divided into
(a), (b), (c) and (d).
(a) - Approved for experimental planting
(b) - Clones having promising localised performance are included
(c) - Moderate clones with moderate clone performance are included
(d) - Experimental clones with limited data are included

40. Clone Parentage Status
RRII 105 Tjir 1 x GT 1 Category I
RRII 414 RRII 105 x RRIC 100 Category I
RRII 430 RRII 105 x RRIC 100 Category I
RRII 5 Primary clone Category II
RRII 203 PB 86 x Mil 3/2 Category II
RRII 417 RRII 105 x RRIC 100 Category II
RRII 422 RRII 105 x RRIC 100 Category II
RRII 50 Primary clone Category III
RRII 51 Primary clone Category III
RRII 52 Primary clone Category III
RRII 118 Mil 3/2 x Hil 28 Category III
RRII 176 Mil 3/2 x PB 5/60 Category III
RRII 208 Mil 3/2 x AVROS 255 Category III
RRII 300 Tjir 1 x PR 107 Category III
RRII 429 RRII 105 x RRIC 100 Category III
Clones Released from RRII

41. RRII 105
Developed by : RRII
Parentage Tjir 1 x Gl 1
Vigour : Average
Girth increment on tapping : Average
Trunk : Tall and straight
Branching pattern : Good branching with
strong union
Canopy : Dense, mostly restricted to the
top, dark green glossy leaves
Virgin bark thickness : Above average
Renewed bark thickness : Above average
Number of latex vessel rows : Above
average

42. …RRII 105
Incidence of major diseases and pests
Pink disease– severe
Powdery mildew - moderate to severe
Abnormal leaf fall - mild
Shoot rot - moderate to severe
Leaf spot disease – severe
Reaction to stresses
Cold - average tolerance
Drought - average tolerance with respect to
yield, but growth is affected
Wind - average tolerance
Occurrence of TPD : High
Special features : The highest yielding clone
showing stability in yield (Wonder clone).

43. …RRII 105
Mean
Yield
of
5 Years
Mean
Yield
of
10 Years
Mean
Yield
of
15 Years
Mean
Yield
of
20Years
Small scale evaluation
(g/tree/tap)
62.48 75.18 81.16 76.25
Large scale evaluation
(g/tree/tap)
56.80 60.96 62.74
On farm evaluation
(kg/ha/year) 1536 1710 2210

44. RRIM 600
Developed by : RRIM
Parentage : Tjir 1 x PB 86
Vigour : Low
Incidence of major diseases and pests
Pink disease - severe
Powdery mildew - mild
Abnormal leaf fall – severe
Reaction to stresses
Cold - average tolerance
Drought - average tolerance
Wind- above average tolerance
Occurrence of TPD : Average
Special features : Not suited for areas where
abnormal leaf fall caused by Phytophthora
is prevalent

45. Mean Yield
Particulars 5 Years 10 Years 15 Years 20 Years
Large scale
evaluation
(g/tree/tap)
42.44 51.88 49.77
On farm
evaluation
(kg/ha/yr)
1186 1710 1379 1349
…RRIM 600

46. GT-1
• Outstanding clone from Indonesia
• Virgin bark thickness (VBT) – average
• Renewed bark (RB) – below average
• Higher yielder
• 1356 kg / ha / year
• Tolerant to pink disease, PM and wind damage
• Withstand higher intensity of tapping
• Suitable for small growers

47. PR 107
• Primary clone of Indonesia
• Sturdy, wind resistant and average vigour
• Commercial yield – 1044 kg / ha / year
• Withstands higher tapping
• Resistant to pink diseases, susceptible to Phytophthora
Tjir – 1
• Indonesian primary clone with good vigour
• Yellow colour latex
• Susceptible to Phytophthora, pink disease and powdery
mildew
• 978 kg / ha / year

48. GL – 1
• Primary clone of Malaysia with below average vigour
• Perform better in increased water table condition
• 1127 kg/ha/year
PB- 86
• Primary clone of Malaysia
• Suitable for planting in expanded area
• Perform good in Kanya kumara
• 1129 kg/ha/year
PB 5 / 51
• Primary clone of Malaysia
• PB 56 × PB 24
• Increases resistance to wind damage
• 1514 kg/ha/year

49. RRIM – 628
• Tjir – 1 × RRIM 527
• Tolerant to abnormal leaf fall and wind damage
• 1051 kg/ha/year
RRIM – 701
• Fairly increased yielder
• Susceptible to pink disease and powdery mildew
• 1042 kg/ha/year
RRIM – 703
• RRIM – 600 × RRIM 500
• Resistant to powdery mildew
• 1725 kg/ha/year

50. RRII – 118
• Increased vigour
• Resistant to diseases
• 880 kg/ha/year
RRII – 203
• High yielding clone average tolerant to diseases
• 3100 kg/ha/year
RRII – 208
• High yielding clone average tolerant to diseases
• 1685 kg/ha/year
• Increased susceptibility to shoot rot
• Promising clones – PB 609, PB 217, PB 235, PB 255, PR
261, PB 280, PB 311, RRIM 605, RRIM 623
• RRIM 600 – Good performance in Karnataka

51. New High Yielding Rubber Variety Released in Brazil
• Researchers in Brazil have released variety of rubber that start
producing latex in 5 years after planting instead of the normal 7
years.
• The new varieties not only reduce the time for the first harvest
by 30%, they also go on to yield significantly more latex than
currently planted varieties.
IAC 500
• Average of 1,731 kg of latex per hectare or which yields 52%
more than the average yield in Malaysia.

52. New high yielding variety of rubber by RRII
• The Rubber Board has released two hybrid clones viz., RRII
414 and RRII 430 which were evolved from the cross RRII
105 x RRIC 100.
• These varieties are likely to increase the yield by 15% to 40%
per hectare.
• The new varieties are found to be ready for tapping in six-and-
half years.

53. PB 260
Developed by : Prang Besar estate
Parentage : PB 5/51 x PB 49
Vigour : High
Girth increment on tapping : Average
Trunk : Tall and straight
Branching pattern : Light branches
balanced, branch union strong
Canopy : Dense, pale green leaves
Virgin bark thickness : Below average
Renewed bark thickness : Below
average
Number of latex vessel rows : Average

54. …PB 260
Incidence of major diseases and pests
Pink - moderate
Powdery mildew - moderate
Abnormal leaf fall- moderate
Reaction to stresses
Wind - Above average tolerance
Occurrence of TPD : High
Color of latex : White
Special features : A high yielding
clone having good secondary
characters

55. RRII 414
• Developed by : RRII
• Parentage : RRII 105 x RRIC 100
• Vigor : High
• Girth increment on tapping : Average
• Trunk : Tall, straight and cylindrical
with prominent leaf scar, slightly
leaning
• Branching pattern : Very high heavy
branches with strong union
• Canopy : Open, broad and heavy
• Virgin bark thickness : Above average
• Renewed bark thickness : High
• Number of latex vessel rows : Above
average in both virgin and renewed
bark

56. …RRII 414
Incidence of major diseases and pests
Pink - moderate
Powdery mildew - high
Abnormal leaf fall - moderate
Corynespora leaf fall - low
Reaction to stresses
Wind - average tolerence
Occurrence of TPD : Low
Color of latex : White
Special features : Yield better than RRII 105
in the first year of tapping in the on-farm trial
and comparable to that of RRII 105 in the
multi location trials
Yield : small scale (g/tree/tap) - 74.02

57. RRII 430
Developed by : RRII
Parentage : RRII 105 x RRIC 100
Vigor : Above average
Girth increment on tapping : Average
Trunk : Tall straight cylindrical stem with
smooth bark
Branching pattern : Balanced branching
with strong branch union. Moderate to
heavy branches
Canopy : Open broad and heavy with
large glossy leaves
Virgin bark thickness : High
Renewed bark thickness : High
Number of latex vessel rows : Above
average in both virgin and renewed bark

58. …RRII 430
Incidence of major diseases and pests
Pink disease - low
Powdery mildew - very high
Abnormal leaf fall - low
Corynespora leaf fall – low
Reaction to stresses
Wind - high tolerance
Occurrence of TPD : Low
Color of latex : White
Special features : Yield better than RRII
105 in the first year of tapping in on -
farm trial and in multi location trials
Yield small scale (g/tap/tree) : 63.37

59. GT 1
Country of origin : Indonesia
Developed by : Gondang Tapen Estate
Parentage : Primary clone
Vigour : Average to above average
Incidence of major diseases and pests
Pink disease : Moderate
Powdery mildew : Moderate to severe
Abnormal leaf fall : Moderate
Reaction to stresses
Drought : Average tolerance
Wind : Average tolerance
Occurrence of TPD : Average
Special features : Shows rising yield trend

60. PB 28/59
Country of origin : Malaysia
Developed by : Prang Besar Estate
Parentage : Primary clone
Vigour : Average
Incidence of major
diseases and pests
Pink : Severe
Powdery mildew : Severe
Abnormal leaf fall : Severe
Reaction to stresses
Wind : Below average tolerance
Occurrence of TPD : High
Special features : Adapted to the agroclimatic
conditions of Kanyakumari region
Yield :1369 kg/ha/year

61. PB 217
Country of origin : Malaysia
Developed by : Prang Besar Estate
Parentage : PB 5/51 x PB 6/9
Vigour : Average
Incidence of major diseases and pests
Pink disease : Severe
Powdery mildew : Severe
Abnormal leaf fall : Moderate
Reaction to stresses
Cold : Average tolerance
Drought : Above average tolerance
Occurrence of TPD : Low
Special features : A hardy clone suitable for small
growers. Shows good response to
stimulation

62. Propagation
Budding
Brown budding Green budding
Seeds

63. Polyclonal seed gardens
• To get benefit of mixed clones in a population, polyclonal seed
garden are maintained.
 Good quality seeds are produced in the PCSG
 No. of clones selected should be 3-6 in PCSG
 Clones selected should be a high yielder, vigorous, resistant to pest
and diseases
 Should produce good no. of seeds, flowers simultaneously
 Clones suitable for PCSG – RRIM 600, RRIM 605, RRIM 623, GT-
1, PB 5/51, PB 28/59, Tjir-1

64. Seed
• Seeds are collected from approved PCSG during July-
September in South India
• Viability of the rubber seed is short (8 weeks) -
immediately sown after soaking in water for 3-5 days
• Raised nursery beds of river sand are prepared
• Seeds are sown in a single layer touching one another and
pressed firmly with the surface of the seeds are just
visible above

65. Seed propagation
Washing of seeds
Germinated and
ungerminated seeds
Picking up of
germinated seeds
Sprouted seed
Planting in nursery beds

66.  Nursery bed - protected by sun - providing a temporary
shade. Nursery bed - moist (but not wet) – sprinkle with water
 Seeds germinates within 6-10 days of sowing. Every day
germinated seed should be picked and planted in the nursery
or in the field.
 Mulching with dry leaves or grass is very essential to
conserve soil moisture during dry period, to suppress the weed
growth and to guard against severe down pour. Mulching
promotes better seedlings growth.

67. • Seedlings are transferred either to secondary nursery
(60 x 45 cm) or polybag (30 x 30 cm) with a potting
mixture of soil : sand : FYM in 3:1:1.
• 10 - 18 months seedlings are used and collected for
planting.
• Stump planting : Top the seedling at height of 30 –
40 cm and allow more no. of axillary branches.
• By this, accumulation of CHO increases in the roots
and root become sturdy with easy establishment and
tolerant to any climate.
Nursery planting

68. Spacing in nursery
(Rubber Board)
Seedling stumps 30 x 30 cm
Budded stumps
Green budded stumps 23 x 23 cm
Brown budded stumps 30 x 30 cm
Staggered pairs of rows 60 x 23 cm
Budwood nursery and
stumped budding
60 x 90 cm or 60 x 120
cm

70. Nursery for seedlings and budded stumps
• In India, seed fall is during July - September and hence in this
period it is necessary to produce maximum number of seedlings and
budable seedlings from a nursery.
• Budwood nursery: Buds start sprouting – 3 to 4 weeks after
planting the budded stumps or in about 2 weeks after cutting
back, if budding are done in situ.
• When the budwood nursery plants are 1 year old, about 1 m of
usable budwood can be obtained.
• The budwood is cut when at least 1 m of brown bark has
developed. The immature green portion at the top should be
discarded.

73. Nursery for slumped budding
• The methods of establishment and maintenance of
nurseries for raising stumped buddings are the
same as those of budwood nurseries.
• However, for stumped buddings, green budding at
4 to 5 months stage is preferable.
• Intense care is given to the plants so that they
attain a girth of 10-11 cm at the collar within a
period of 18 months after cut back.

74. BUDDING
Brown budding - Brown colored buds taken from bud wood of about
1 years growth onto stock plants of 10 months or more growth with
7.5 cm thickness at the base.
Vigorously growing healthy stalks are best
Buds found in axils of fallen leaves are used
In S-India : Best season : April – May, Budding from 1 m budwood
of 1 year growth with 20 buds (1.5 to 2 months).
Maintained upto 6-8 months

75. Green budding –
Both stock and bud wood for green budding are young.2-8
months old seedling with 2.5 cm girth are taken. Buds from
budwood in axil of scale leaf is alone used. Too dry or too wet
condition are not preferred.
Young budding - Kind of green budding carried on very young
plants less than two months old.

76. Other types of Budding are
Crown budding - An undesirable crown can be replaced by desirable
one by using green buds
Over budding - Budded at a higher levels for converting an
existing bud wood nursery of a clone to another clone without
replanting
High budding - Type of crown budding where seedlings are
budded at level of about 90 cm from the ground

77. Tissue culture
• RRII conducted experiment on Tissue culture
• Epicotyl seedlings, Embryo, anther, shoot tip
and integument are used as explants
• Nitsch’s media enriched with cytokinin, NAA

78. Planting
• Found in sloppy and undulated hill lands.
• Remove green shrubs, clear the land and open pits of 1 m3 with
12 kg FYM, top soil, 125 g rock phosphate.
• June- July is the best season.
• Square or triangular system of planting.
• Pits 1m3 are dug out and filled with soil and compost.

79. Seed at stake planting:
In situ planting, 3 – 4 seeds are sown in pit and
allowed for germination. Vigorous growing 2 – 3
seedlings are budded with high yielding clone.
One successful budded plant is allowed and others
are used for gap filling.

80. • Stump planting: Seedlings raised in nursery are
transplanted by restricting the growth at 45 to 60
cm from collar (18 month old).
• Basket planting: Conical bamboo baskets was
taken. 30 x 60 cm polyethylene with 200-300
gauge - budded with brown or green bud.
• 6-8 month old budded plants can be utilized for
planting in field.

81. Spacing
Area Spacing No. of plants / ha
Budded plants
Hills 6.7 x 3.4 m 445 plants / ha
Flat areas 4.9 x 4.9 m 420 plants / ha
Triangular method 4.9 x 4.9 m 470 plants / ha
Seedling plants
Hills 6.1 x 3 m 539 plants / ha
Flat areas 4.6 x 4.6 m 479 plants / ha

82. MANURING / FERTILISER APPLICATION
 General fertilizer recommendation for rubber is derived based on the results of the
fertilizer experiments conducted by the Rubber Research Institute of India on rubber
of different age groups
Seedling Nursery
Incorporation of 25 kg of compost and 4 kg of rock phosphate per 100 m2 of the
nursery bed.
 Apply 25 kg of 10-10-4-1.5 NPKMg per 100 m2 of the nursery bed 6 to 8 weeks
after planting.
Again apply 5.5 kg per 100 m2, 6 to 8 weeks after the first top dressing.
After fertilizer application the plant bases can be mulched with suitable mulch
material.

83. Budwood Nursery
Incorporate 1.65 kg of powdered rock phosphate per 100 m2 of the nursery
bed as a basal dressing at the time of preparing the nursery bed.
For the first crop of bud-wood apply 250 g of 10-10-4-1.5 NPKMg mixture
per plant in two equal split doses. Apply the first split of 125 g / plant 2 to 3
months after planting the budded stump or cutting back if budding is carried out
in situ. The second dose of 125 g / plant should be applied 8 to 9 months after
planting.
For the second and subsequent crops of bud-wood from the nursery, apply 125
g of 10-10-4-1.5 NPKMg mixture per plant in one single dose 2 to 3 months
after cutting back.

84. Quantity and the schedule of fertilizer application during the first four years
Year of
planting
Month
after
planting
Time of
application
Dose of mixture per
plant (g)
Quantity of mixture
per ha with 440-450
plant points (kg)
10-10-4-1.5
(NPKMg)
12-12-6
(NPK)
10-10-4-1.5
(NPKMg)
12-12-6
(NPK)
1st year 3 Sep - Oct 225 190 100 85
2nd year 9 Apr - May 450 380 200 170
2nd year 15 Sept - Oct 450 380 200 170
3rdyear 21 Apr - May 550 480 250 215
3rdyear 27 Sept - Oct 550 480 250 215
4thyear 33 Apr - May 450 380 200 170
4thyear 39 Sep - Oct 450 380 200 170

85. Mature rubber under tapping
The general recommendation 30:30:30 NPK kg / ha
• Method of application
• Circular band of about 30 cm around the base of the young plant,
leaving about seven cm from the base.
• The plant bases should then be immediately mulched.
• The second round of fertilizer application, when the plants are 9
months old

86. • During the initial years area is not fully occupied and inter spaces
are available in the plantation which receive plenty of sunlight.
• These interspaces can be utilized for growing intercrops.
• Pineapple, ginger, banana, turmeric, medicinal crops.
• Shade tolerant perennial crops viz., coffee, vanilla on Glyricidea
standards, Garcinea and cocoa can be cultivated along with
rubber.
INTERCROPPING

88. Cover crops
• To prevent soil erosion, to lower the soil
temperature.
• Ideal cover crop should be perennial, easy to
establish.
• Good coverage of soil able to withstand slashing,
drought, pest and disease, unpalatable to cattle.
• High nitrogen fixation.

89. • Puerearia phaseoloides, Calapogonium
mucunoides, Desmodium ovalifolium, Mimosa
invisa var inermis, Centrosema pubescence,
Clotolaria sp., Leucania glauca, Mucuna
bractiata are sown at 3 – 5 kg / ha.
• Mixture of these cover crops Calapogonium
mucunoides, Puerearia phaseoloides and Mimosa
invisa var inermis 5:4:1 is advantageous.
• Cover crops are having seed coat dormancy hence
hot water treatments or acid scarification are best.

90. Mulching
• In beginning and also for matured plantation during
Nov-Dec onwards when dry spell starts
• Grasses, dried leaves, slashes has to be covered at ban
around 1m diameter at 1cm thickness
• Conservation of moisture, weed growth decreases,
extraction of bact popu, protecting soil from heating,
conserve soil, it adds organic matter to soil

91. Irrigation
• Grown mainly as rainfed crop
• Polyembryonic seedlings are found better for drought
condition
• In 1st two years of planting irrigation is provided at
10-15 days interval in summer and during tapping
period
• For adult : 40-50 litres/ plant

92. Protection of young rubber plants from strong sun
Young rubber plants in the field and nurseries are highly
susceptible to scorching resulting from exposure to strong sun.
The incidence is more on southern and southwestern aspects.
Mulching and shading help prevent sun scorch in nurseries.
In the field too, mulching and provision of bamboo or plaited
coconut leaf tree guards afford same protection in this regard.

93. From the second year onwards, young plants in the
field may be protected by whitewashing brown portions
of the main stem.
This is done by the beginning of the dry weather, that
is during November – December.
For white washing, fresh lime is superior even though
china clay can also be used

94. • Tapping is a process of controlled wounding during which thin
shavings of bark are removed.
• Latex is obtained from the bark of the rubber tree by tapping.
• The aim of tapping is to cut open the latex vessels in the case of trees
tapped for the first time or to remove the coagulum which blocks the cut
ends of the latex vessels in the case of trees under regular tapping.
• Budded plants : Tappable when they attain a girth of 50 cm at a height
of 125 cm from the bud union with 30º slope.
• In seedlings: The first opening for tapping is recommended at a height
of 50 cm when the girth is 55 cm with 25º slope.
Harvesting / Tapping

95. • Tapping season: new tapping – March-April
• Tapping should be done early in the morning as late tapping may cause
decrease in flow of latex. In early morning, turgor pressure is very high and
rapid flow of latex occurs.
• Budded bark is more soften and thin compared to seedling.
• Latex vessels in the bark run at 3 - 5º to he right and therefore a cut from
high left to low right will open greater number of latex vessels.
• Tapping depth : 1 mm close to cambium, since most latex vessels are
concentrated near cambium.
• Bark consumption- it depends on skill of tapper. To get optimum yield it is
preferable to consume 20-23 cm of bark annually under S2d2 system
without any break.
• Tapping task: (number of trees tapped on a day by a tapper) in India is
about 300 trees compared to 400-500 trees in other countries.
• Shallow tapping decreases the yield.

97. Collection of latex
• The latex that flows from the rubber trees on tapping is channeled in to a
container, generally coconut shell cups attached to them.
• Latex transferred to clean buckets – 2 to 3 hours after tapping
Latex coagulum rubber / Field coagulum includes;
Normally 15 to 25 per cent of total crop constitutes tree lace ,shell
scrap and earth scrap which together is called as field coagulum
rubber.
1) Tree lace: The latex which gets dried up on the tapping panel.
2) Shell scrap: The latex which dried up in the collection cups.
3) Earth scrap: The latex that is split and/ or overflowed on the
ground (earth scrap) which gets dried up. It is also collected once in
a month or so.

100. Tapping of panel and collection of
latex

102. TYPES OF TAPPING KNIVES
Michie Golledge:
Popular in India and used
for upward tapping
Tapping with Michie- Golledge

103. TYPES OF TAPPING KNIVES
Jebong knife - Commonly
used in Malaysia
More suitable for speedy and
easier tapping but with a
slightly higher bark
consumption
Tapping with Jebong knife

104. Rubber Needle Tapping is special
tool for slitting rubber tree to get the
latex, what make from alloy steel
blade and wooden handle which is
sharp and durable.
Suitable for South - East Asian
countries
Rubber Needle Tapping is
manufacturer with imported materials,
advanced processing technology, anti-
rush, un-chipping, un-pasting and
high output.
Rubber Needle Tapping

106. Modern rubber tapping instrument

107. RAIN GUARDING
• Any suitable device fixed above the tapping panel to
keep the panel, tapping cut and collection cup dry
during rainy season is termed rain guards.
Three types of rain guard
• Polythene skirt
• Tapping shade
• Guardian rain guard

108. Skirting

109. YIELD
South India:
 Annual yield – Seedling : 375 kg / ha
 Budded plantations : 900-1000 kg/ ha

110. TAPPING SYSTEMS
Tapping
system
Method Intensity
S2d2 Half spiral , tapping alternate days
for 6 months and rest for 3 months.
For budded plants
100 %
S2d3 Half spiral, tapping at every 3 day
for 6 months and rest for 3 months.
Used for clonal seedling
67 %
S2d1 Half spiral, daily tapping. Used by
small growers. Favours brown blast
incidence
200 %

111. 1. Mini and reduced spiral tapping cuts
2. Intensive tapping
3. High level tapping/ Ladder tapping
4. Controlled upward tapping
5. Puncture tapping/micro tapping
6. Slaughter tapping
Types of tapping in Rubber
1. Mini and reduced spiral tapping cuts: Short tapping cuts(mini
cuts of 5 cm or reduced spirral cuts of 10 cm) are less injurious
of even semiskilled workers can be employed for tapping. Size
of tapping task is 500 trees/day.

112. 2. INTENSIVE TAPPING
Intensive tapping - old rubber trees for a few years
prior to their removal
The methods employed are
Increased tapping frequency
Extension of tapping cut
Opening of double cuts
Use of yield stimulants

113. Intensive tapping Intensive tapping in Malaysia

114. 3. HIGH LEVEL TAPPING/Ladder tapping
When tapping of renewed bark on
basal panels becomes uneconomic,
new cuts are opened at higher
levels, 180 cm from bud union or
even higher
The tapper uses a small ladder to
reach the cut

115. 4. CONTROLLED UPWARD TAPPING
 Controlled upward tapping (CUT) is
practiced for longer exploitation of the
virgin bark above basal panel
 In CUT, instead of using ladder, a long
handled modified gouge knife is used for
upward tapping from ground
 The tapping cut can be 1/4 spiral and its
angle 45°. Length of handle used for
tapping is 120 cm for tapping up to 40
cm height of high panel and 180 cm for
tapping beyond that height
Intensive tapping with
stimulation

116. 5. Puncture tapped tree
This is an incision
method , making
punctures with a small
needle on a vertical
band of a stimulated bark
(60 x 1.5 cm) below
tapping height.

117. The term slaughter tapping is used to indicate all out
bleeding of rubber tree to obtain maximum yield
without regard to health or longevity of trees.
It is done one or two years before replanting or
replacing crop.
In old trees tapping is done by giving two or more half
spiral cuts simultaneously i.e., 1. one at the base level
and other at 2. at least 120 –180 cm higher level on
the opposite side.
Slaughter tapping is sometimes practiced even on
branches with the help of ladders. Here length, height
and frequency of tapping are all increased
6. Slaughter tapping in rubber

118. • Latex can be processed into products like :
1.Sheet rubber ADS (air dried sheets)
- RSS (ribbed smoked sheets)
2. Crepe rubber
3. Preserved field latex and latex concentrate
4. Block rubber
5.Technically specified natural rubber (TSR) -
Standard rubber
6. Rubber powder
Processing of rubber

119. 1.Dry ribbed sheet rubber:
Anti-coagulants (solutions of ammonia, formalin or sodium sulphite) are
added to the cups to prevent the coagulation of latex before it reaches the factory.
The latex so collected is bulked and then strained to remove the impurities. It is
then diluted to a standard consistency of 12-15 % rubber.
Special hydrometers like metrolac, latex meter are employed to measure the
percentage of rubber.
After dilution, the latex is strained through a 60 mesh screen for the second
time. Then it is poured in to the special coagulating tanks or aluminium pans
which is divided in to many compartments by thin aluminium sheets and acetic
acid or formic acid is used for coagulation.

120. After coagulation , rubber sheets are repeatedly washed several times with changes of
water and passed through hand or power operated rollers. In the roller excess water and
dissolved impurities are pressed and squeezed out
The surface of the rollers may be either smooth or grooved or zigzag or straight or
diamond pattern, its impression is normally left on the surface of the sheets when they
come out of the press
These sheets are hung in shade for two to three hours for dripping in a dust free place.
They are then taken to smoke houses for thorough drying smoking of rubber sheets is
done to dry the sheets properly and to avoid formation of blisters.
In the smoke house, the sheets are smoked at a low temperature of 48-50oC with fairly
high humidity during the first day subsequently during 2nd to 4th day the temperature being
68oC with low relative humidity.
They are taken out, graded and packed. Such products are known as smoked sheets or
dry ribbed sheet rubber.

121. 2.CREPE RUBBER
• Pale crepe rubber is among the highest quality crepes
• Achieved with (NaHSO3)
• The clean coagulum is washed and milled
• This produces sheets between 1.2 and 1.5 mm thick and 24 cm wide
• The sheets are dried in drying rooms for 2.5 to 4 days at 37°C or air-dried for 5 to 10 days
on drying floors
• Excessive temperatures lead to discoloured patches
• The sheets are packed as bales and marketed as "thin pale crepe".

122. Dry crepe rubber :
When coagulum from latex or any form of field coagulum after necessary
preliminary treatments is passed through a set of creping machine to get crinkly,
lace like rubber called crepe rubber after drying.
Various grades of crepe rubbers are EPC Super1X, EPC1X, EPC2X and
EPC3X

123. RSS - Ribbed smoked sheets

124. 3. Preserved latex concentrates
The latex is collected in the storage tank, from there it is brought to a centrifuge
machine, rotating at 440rpm. Due to centrifugal action, liquid portion comes out.
The upper layer, the concentrated latex is collected and brought to bulking tank
and mixed with chemical and packed in drums. 60 % rubber present in it.
Skim latex is taken to another tank and sulphuric acid is added and coagulated
and milled to get skim crepe.
It is of poor quality while the concentrated latex fetches very higher price.

128. 5. Technically specified natural rubber (TSR) -
Standard rubber
Different methods involved
(Hevea crumb or Dynat processes)
In the Hevea crumb process,
 Rubber coagulum is passed through creping
rolls
 Set at friction speed and the shear forces
involved tear the coagulum into small pieces.
 This process is described as crumbling.

129. Dynat process
• Latex coagulated naturally in the collecting cups (cup
lumps), rubber sheets or latex coagulated by adding
acid.
• Then the rubber is granulated by means of a rotary
knife cutter.
• The crumb is washed and dried at elevated temperature
up to 140ºC.
• Compressed into blocks of about 33 1/3 kg.
• Wrapped in synthetic plastic sheeting (high-quality
polyethylene bags)
• Packaged in wooden orsteeschests

130. 6. RUBBER POWDER
• Reduce transportation costs, the latex can be
converted to a fine rubber powder instead of
transporting it in the form of latex
concentrates.
• This is done by atomizing the latex and drying
it with hot air.
• This form of rubber can be kept for long
periods and is particularly resilient.

131. Rubber powder

132. GRADING OF RUBBER PRODUCTS
CREPE RUBBER:
• Estate brown crepe
• Thin brown crepe (remills)
• Thick blanket crepe (ambers)
• Flat bark crepe
• Smoked blanket crepe

133. Technically Specified Natural rubber (tsr) -
Standard rubber
• Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR)
• Standard Indonesian Rubber (SIR)
• Standard Sri Lanka Rubber (SSR)
• Standard Vietnam Rubber (SVR)
• Indian Standard Natural Rubber (ISNR)
• Standard Thai Rubber (STR)

134. PACKAGING OF RUBBER PRODUCTS
• Pale crepe rubber is either packed in a
double-layered bag (plastic sheeting
inside, paper outside) or the bales are
wrapped in plastic sheeting and packed in
wooden cart.

135. SHEET RUBBER
• Rubber sheets are folded to form bales (e.g. 60
cm x 60 cm and 100 - 113 kg per bale)
compressed and wrapped in protective sheets
• A protective coating and talcum are applied to
the surface to protect against oxidation
• To prevent the sheets from sticking to each
other

136. MARKETING
• Rubber Board to promote and facilitate
production, processing and marketing of
natural rubber.
• The Board undertakes stringent measures to
ensure that the products marketed under the
brand conform to the specified quality
standards.

137. STORAGE
• Recommended storage duration for natural rubber
5-7 years
• Recommended storage temperature for natural
rubber 15 - 30 °C
• Storage of latex concentrates : 6 - 12 months
Temperature range : 5 - 35°C

138. Physioligical disorder
Tapping Panel Dryness
• Generally high yielding clones of natural
rubber are susceptible to the physiological
disorder commonly termed Tapping Panel
Dryness (TPD) earlier referred to as Brown
Blast.
• It occurs when the harvesting of latex from
the trees exceeds the physiological capacity of
its regeneration. It is estimated that TPD leads
to approximately 15-20% decrease in yield.

139. Symptoms
• Excessive late dripping of latex simultaneous
with a drop in the dry rubber content of the
latex in the initial phase and high DRC in the
later stage.
• Total inhibition of rubber biosynthesis occurs
and no latex is produced towards the final
phase.

141.  Partial or total drying of tapping panel which gives the name to
the disorder.
 Besides cessation of latex flow, terminal symptoms like bulging,
necrosis and cracking of the bark have been observed.
 Some clone specific TPD symptoms characterised by sloughing
in PB 28/59 and scaling observed in clone RRIM 605 are also
noticed.
 The symptoms are observed also on the root stock and root.
 In most of the partially affected trees, dry portion is confined
only to the roots below the dry portion in the scion.

142. Management practice to TPD
• Giving tapping rest and changing the
tapping panel.
• Tapping rest does result in some improvement
in the TPD situation at least for a while and a
small proportion of the TPD trees may make
full recovery particularly when the trees are
reopened on a new panel.

143. • It is advantageous to follow 1/2 S d/3 tapping
system to reduce the intensity of exploitation
stress thereby reducing the TPD incidence in the
population.
• Tapping can be resumed changing the tapping
panel and following a low intensity tapping
system.

144. YIELD STIMULATION
• Certain chemicals induce ethylene formation in the plant tissue while
others generate ethylene directly by decomposition. eg., Ethephon
• Under low frequency tapping systems, trees are stimulated from first
year of tapping using ethephon (2.5%) by panel application
• Ethephon is also recommended for trees tapped under d/2 frequency
(Panel C) and trees tapped in Panel D for short-term increase in
production

145. Concentration :
Market available ethephon usually contain 10% active
ingredient
It is diluted with palm oil, petroleum jelly, coconut oil or
even with water to 5%
Different methods of application are :
Bark application
Panel application
Groove application
Ethephon is applied with a brush below the tapping cut to a width
of 5 cm after scraping of the outer bark

146. TLC/LTC- timber latex clones/Latex timber clones in rubber
Several fast growing rubber clones producing more timber
biomass besides yielding appreciable amount of latex are called
as clones/Latex timber clones

148. Abnormal leaf fall (Phytopthora meadii)

149. Bark rot (Phytophthora spp.)

150. Pink disease (Corticium salmonicolor)

151. Ashy coating noticed
on tender leaves
Management :
Dusting 3-6 rounds at
0-15 days interval
using 11-14kg of 325
mesh fine sulphur
dust per round per
hectare
Powdery mildew
(Oidium heveae)

152. Mealy bug

153.  Severly affected
portion dry up and
die.
Management :
Spray malathion at 0.2%
concentration.
Scale insect
(Saissetia nigra)