Bogged down by the vagaries of weather and leaf blights, the interminable network of rubber plantations in Kerala are turning ‘evergreen’ by sporting thickets of bright canopy.
As the changing climate begin to exert its toll in natural rubber production, the Rubber Board has launched a major drive to promote crown budding technique for bringing the disease-causing microbes under control.
The project is being initiated as the rising costs, labour shortage and environmental concerns are preventing growers from adopting chemical control measures in rubber holdings.
According to Shaji Philip, principal scientist, Pathology wing of the Rubber Research Institute of India, healthy and disease-free leaves of rubber trees is a necessary condition for better yield.
“The leaf diseases are leaping from one plantation to another and the problem is especially severe after 2015 with the weather becoming more irregular and unpredictable. In the absence of any successful measures to counter this trend, it may delay the maturity period of trees and cause up to 30% fall in annual output,” he explained .
Among the various types of leaf diseases, colletotrichum circular leaf spot is the most prevalent leaf blight reported across the plantations in Kerala.
Crown budding, according to Mr. Philip, is a technique applied on the stem of a high yielding rubber clone at a height of 2.5 to 3 meters using a disease-resistant clone.
“It can be done both at nurseries and on the field. The budded trees help the growers save about ₹10,000 per hectare as they do not require spraying and are resilient to climate change,” added Mr.Shaji
Acting on a direction by its scientific advisory committee, the board is now looking to launch training programmes for the growers in the technique, which will be carried out through the field officers and production department.
To begin with, the agency recently held an interaction with the estate owners and managers and introduced the budded stumps of FX 516, a suitable clone for crown budding in rubber.