ATTENTION RUBBER

GROWERS !
Are you in possession of rubber trees belonging to the clones
of RRII 400 series?
If you are, there is a very bad news for you. A good number of
times you have been warned against it, but even then you
happened to plant the clones their future is highly
discouraging, I am compelled to disclose it. They cannot
perform well because their genetic constitution is such that
they are poor at rubber production and highly disease prone
as well.
As a result the total annual rubber production in the country
has been reduced by 9.4 per cent whereby the total
production has been 1640 Kg /ha while it was 1813 Kg/ ha the
previous year thereby the yield getting reduced than that
obtained 11 years back! What is the reason? It is solely due to
the new RRII 400 series clones coming into tapping during
the current year. When two to three years will be over what
will be the annual per ha. yield? That is regarding production.
The readers are requested to refer Rubber magazine the
official publication of Rubber Board May 2014 issue. Publicity
for annual spraying of the rubber trees against the leaf fall
disease caused by the fungus Phytophthora is in full swing for
the first time in past three decades whereby it is clear that
for the new clones the plant protection operation is most
essential and inevitable. It clearly proves that the very purpose
of introducing these new clones was reintroduction of the
annually recurring prophylactic chemical spraying of rubber
plantations! This clearly goes to prove that the predictions
made by the author on the poor productivity and high
disease proneness of the new clones are perfectly correct,
THEY ARE REALLY TERMINATOR CLONES INDEED!
Hence what the growers have to do is
At least in future totally eliminate the four clones belonging to
the 400 series for planting.
Plant only RRII 105
For the trees which have already been planted
Convert the trees as early as possible into RRII 105 by
grafting them .
How to carry out the operation?
Cut the trees leaving 25 cm at the base after the monsoon
Retain only 2 or 3 shoots developed. Wedge graft the HEALTHY
SHOOTS with tender shoot tips of RRII 105 of the same age
and same diameter.
Once established select the healthy grafted shoot and
remove the others Because the well established root system is
retained underneath the shoot will grow very vigorously and
reach tappable girth in no time.
Thus the tree can very well be converted to 105 .If it is not
done throughout the whole life of the trees the productivity
will be very low and throughout the whole life plant
protection by annual spraying will be indispensible thus being
a botheration for the grower
Be careful when six year old the converted 105 tree will very
well be ready for tapping not using the existing Terminator
technology but using the innovative IUT technology alone!
Thus let the innovative technology on the wonderful clone RRII
105 of the Institute do wonders for our country Let other
countries also follow the footsteps and let the benefits be
shared by all of them as well!