rubber industry in sri lanka

7/24/2019 Rubber Industry in Sri Lanka

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RUBBER


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ABSTRACT

Rubber Industry is a major industry in Sri Lanka, which gies a !arge contribution to nationa!

economy" And a!so, Rubber Industry generates many em#!oyment o##ortunities to rura!

#o#u!ation haing !ower !ee! o$ education" The techno!ogy used by most o$ raw rubber

manu$acturers is ery o!d and this resu!ts in !ow #roductiity and high enironmenta! damage

which #eo#!e to do not acce#t any !onger"

Today the rubber industry has $aced to !ots o$ #rob!ems" Lack o$ #ro#er e%ui#ments, $erti!i&ers,

techno!ogy and ca#ita! $or #!antation are some o$ them" To get a good demand $or our rubber we

hae to $ace to the com#etition in the wor!d market" To win this target we shou!d #roduce high

%ua!ity rubber" To #roduce high %ua!ity rubber we hae to $ind better so!utions $or the aboe

mentioned #rob!ems"


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C'(TE(TS

I(TR')UCTI'(

T*E RUBBER TREE

T*E +A '- TA..I(/ RUBBER TREES I( 0 1ILLA/E

.R'CESSI(/ '- (ATURAL RUBBER

.R'BLE0S A() S'LUTI'(S

C'(CLUTI'(


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INTRODUCTION

0y i!!age is .i!ikuththuwa which is situated in /am#aha district and it be!ongs

to +estern #roince" 0y i!!age is somewhat $amous because o$ its historica! a!ue" 0y i!!age

is $i!!ed with !ots o$ natura! beauties such as $addy $ie!ds, mountains, rocks and #!antations o$

rubber trees" I$ you come to my i!!age you can see !arge rubber #!antations besides the road

towards my i!!age" In my i!!age there are about twenty $ami!ies who !ie by ta##ing rubber

trees" (ot in my i!!age but a!so in a!! oer the Sri Lanka most o$ #eo#!e occu#y in rubber

#!antations and #!ants" There$ore the rubber industry has taken a s#ecia! #!ace in my country"

Rubber is one o$ the most im#ortant cash cro#s, with mu!ti#ur#ose uses" Rubber is

not a hereditary #!ant in Sri Lanka" The British #!anters $irst introduced it in Sri Lanka in the

ear!y twentieth century" Later on, #!antations were e2#anded in who!e country by the

goernment and #ub!ic enter#rises" The British and some other #riate com#anies a!so #!anted

rubber in the $e!!ow !ands o$ tea estates" At #resent about 34,555 hectare o$ !and is under rubber

#!antation in Sri Lanka, and annua! #roduction is about 67,555 tons o$ natura! rubber 8(R9"

A!though #roduction o$ natura! rubber is $ar !ess than the demand sti!! the #rice is ery !ow, een

!ess than the cost o$ #roduction, due to com#etitie !ow #rice o$ natura! rubber and synthetic

rubber 8SR9, a bi:#roduct o$ crude oi!, in the internationa! market"

Considering high #roductiity, storage, trans#ortation and marketing $aci!ities, the

goernment encouraged its #!antation with $inancia! su##ort and $oreign technica! assistance"

.ub!ic and #riate sectors estab!ished #!antations in di$$erent hi!!y regions and commercia!

e2#!oitation started success$u!!y within seenth years o$ #!antation" The growth and !ate2 $!ow is

a!so ery encouraging" Since maintenance and #rocessing cost is re!atie!y ery !ow and a good

#rice o$ rubber in the ear!y days it was considered an im#ortant cro# with high #otentia!ity"


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T*E RUBBER TREE

The water #roo$ing and e!astic #ro#erties 8rubber ba!!s9 o$ arious rubber

#roducing #!ants were discoered by (atie American cu!tures, the A&tecs and South American

tribes" (atura! rubber comes $rom the *aea brasi!iensis tree, which grows in tro#ica! regions"

Rubber trees ty#ica!!y reach ;5:


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PROCESSING OF NATURAL RUBBER

.rocessing o$ natura! rubber ino!es the addition o$ a di!ute acid such as $ormic acid"

The coagu!ated rubber is then ro!!ed to remoe e2cess water" Then a $ina! ro!!ing is #er$ormed

using a te2tured ro!!er and the resu!tant rubber sheet is dried" A$ter these #rocesses natura! rubber

is ready $or e2#orting"


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APPLICATIONS OF NATURAL RUBBER

The natura! rubber is used in arious a##!ications such as@ /!ue, Toys, Ba!!oons,

some

medica! tubing, Tyers, /!oes, E!astic thread, tubes o$ automobi!es and bi:cyc!e , $ootwear,

be!ts and hoses, !ate2 $oam, cab!es and wires, battery bo2es, coats and a#rons, air bags, !i$e

jackets and !i$e buoys, adhesies etc" and it is a!so essentia! $or #rocessing synthetic rubber"

Besides rubber, rubber #!ants hae many other uses e"g"@

3" Timber

;" Rubber seed oi!@ used as !ubricant, and $or soa# and #aint industries and #ou!try $eed"

" Land im#roement@ Eery year $a!!en !eaes add 7 to = tons #er hectare o$ biomass"

0oreoer, rubber roots make a ery good net s#reading in the to# soi! u# to a de#th 3 to 3"> m

and increase the #orosity o$ the soi!"

7" Carbon sinks

=" Eco$riend!iness

EIL) A() .R')UCTI1IT

A we!!:managed #!antation in the traditiona! &one can #roduce < tons rubber #er

hectare" Un$ortunate!y, the industry su$$ered bad!y in the !ast decade with the decreasing #rice

in the internationa! market "0oreoer, !ow #roductiity due to !ack o$ #ro#er cu!tura! #ractices


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and a##ro#riate #rocessing $aci!ities made worse the situation $urther more"

-or dee!o#ment o$ rubber, e$$icient research and #rotection o$ market #rice were not

done" As a resu!t, the industry went down and workers didnt get sa!aries in time" .!antation

inestment, know!edge and ski!!ness, and de#endency on the job are sti!! in a serious #osition"

The rubber industry is $acing destruction a!though there is a great demand $or (R in Sri Lanka"

*oweer, the situation has been changed a !itt!e bit now" (ow rubber is one o$ the most

#ro$itab!e commodities in the #resent market" There$ore, it is the right time to think $orward

$or $urther dee!o#ment reising the #o!icy and recti$ying the $au!ts through a##!ied research

and a##ro#riate techno!ogy to achiee highest #roductiity and #ro$it"


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.R'BLE0S A() S'LUTI'(S

Rubber is di$$erent $rom other engineering materia!s in that it is common!y subject to many

uni%ue #rocessing #rob!ems that are not norma!!y encountered with the #rocessing o$ other non:

rubber materia!s" And a!so it $aces to arious kinds o$ matters on rubber #!antation"

S#acing and #!ant #o#u!ation are two main misguiding $actors" 0ost o$ the #eo#!e ignore the

#ositiona! e$$ect o$ the !atitude, the inc!ined sunshine in most o$ the year" Com#etition $or

sun!ight wi!! make them ta!!er without achieing desired girth $or ta##ing" And a!so the weak

#!ants shou!d be remoed $rom the #!antation" A!though it is di$$icu!t it must be done, otherwise

most o$ the trees wi!! remain non:#roductie" In Sri Lanka rubber #!anted in !arge area as a

monocro#" (atura! $!ora and $auna were disturbed due to use o$ #esticides, organic and inorganic

$erti!i&ers" )ue to the usage o$ $erti!i&ers to reduce the growth o$ the #!ants caused to #erish the

ground coering #!ants" And a!so this resu!ted heay erosion o$ the to#soi!" So that it is ery

im#ortant to estab!ish other shade !oing cro#s or cree#ers !ike turmeric, corms, cassaa and

#i#er etc" in rubber #!antation $or economic and enironmenta! bene$it"

.roiding enough technica! know!edge to ta##ers a!so wi!! he!# to u#grade the %ua!ity o$ the

!ate2" )uring the rainy season ta##ing is great!y a$$ected" Using rainguard sea!ant which has

new!y introduced by the Rubber Research Institution o$ Sri Lanka can oercome this matter"

Using this know!edge we can get the same amount o$ !ate2 een during the rainy season"

And a!so there are !ots o$ $actory #rob!ems encountered in the rubber #roduction #!ant"

Any change that is a##!ied to a rubber com#ound or #rocess is a$$ected, $or better or $or worse,

to many other com#ound #ro#erties" There$ore, any change that is done to a rubber #rocess

shou!d be thorough!y researched be$orehand" These changes shou!d $irst be tried out on a

!aboratory sca!e, determining how a!! the #rocessing and cured #hysica! #ro#erties are a$$ected,

inc!uding a!! com#ound s#eci$ication #ro#erties" .!ant receiing area, mi2ing, e2trusion,

mo!dings are some #rob!ems occur in rubber #!ants" 0aintaining a consistent %ua!ity o$ mi2 is


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ery im#ortant to #reent arious %ua!ity #rob!ems downstream" A!so, the orders o$ addition o$

ingredients, the mi2ing scheme, and ty#e o$ mi2er, rotor design, and rotor s#eed are ery

im#ortant"

C'(CLUSI'(

A good day is waiting $or rubber cro# within a ery near $uture" It is we!!:$ound $act that natura!

rubber is su#erior to synthetic rubber in a!! res#ects" In consideration to enironment, hea!th and

sa$ety, bio:degradation and waste dis#osa! $actors it is a!so more acce#tab!e" The tyre industry is

the !argest consumer o$ natura! rubber and its demand is increasing with the increase o$ whee!er

ehic!es" The three major rubber:#roducing countries, 0a!aysia, Thai!and and Indonesia areencouraging to re#!anting rubber areas with oi! #a!m due to the !ow #rice o$ rubber in the wor!d

market" There$ore, it is #redicted that rubber cou!d see a decade o$ higher #rices, which is

estimated at !east doub!e o$ the #resent market #rice" There$ore u#grade the #!antation,

management and #roducts wi!! he!# to earn more and more $oreign e2change to my country"

rubber industry in sri lanka

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