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| George S.Puthuparamban, Puthuparambil House, Uzhakkanad, Erumeli, Pathanamthitta Ph: 04828 210168 |
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Research, in modern era, is done in a short span of time, with statistics and probability providing the yardstick to sift chaff from grain. But in olden days it was a task spread vertically in time, with generations using common sense to refine the knowledge further and further. No wonder the 55 year old experiment and inferences of George S.Puthuparamban and his father on high yielding rubber and its tapping have not been accepted widely.
However, the common farmers are coming to appreciate his effort and already in one such farm, Puthuparamban’s EB-1 variety is able to produce 750gm rubber sheet from the latex of 5 trees against Rubber Board’s best figure of 10 trees for the same sheet.
Among the traditional rubber trees in his father’s farm were a few that used to give latex in excess. After budding these mother plants, he planted the saplings first in his own farm, and then outside. When the trees came of age, he tapped their yield and was surprised to note that it was more than expectations. Added to it was the resistance of the variety to diseases. He further refined the Estate Best (EB)-1 variety over the years to produce EB-2 and EB-3.
Puthuparamban’s dream is to produce one rubber sheet from a single tree or maximum 3 trees. He believes India can be a leader in world market, if that comes to pass.
His innovations do not end here. He has devised different methods of tapping for increasing yield and life of trees. These include upward and downward tapping, story tapping and round tapping. He has even devised special frame to hold multiple coconut shells for high yielding trees. Another innovation is the sapling with 3 tap roots that is suited for areas with heavy wind.
In the eyes of the world, he may be an ordinary farmer without academic qualifications. Yet he had proved his foresight way back in 1984 when he constructed a rain water harvesting structure in front of his house.
Courtesy: Abe Jacob, Karshakan, March 2005
Contributed by: Administrator
