Colombo Rubber Traders’ Association (CRTA) stresses that the rubber harvest has significantly dropped as a result of the ‘leaf fall disease’ in rubber trees for several years.
President of the association Manoj Udugampola stated that if the rubber yield continues to decrease, Sri Lanka will have to import rubber latex in order to meet the rubber requirement of the country.
Further, he mentioned that although a newly planted rubber tree can possibly produce latex within 03 years, the harvesting process can now take at least seven years as a result of this disease.
However, the CRTA expressed that the Rubber Research Institution has already launched a programme to subdue this disease in trees.
At present, 70,000 metric tons of rubber is produced annually for local industries within the country, while the country’s rubber requirement stands at 150,000 metric tons.
