Research Managers
 
Deaprtments
   
 
   
 
Genetics and Plant Breeding | Plant Science | Plant Pathology & Microbiology | Soils & Plant Nutrition | Polymer Chemistry | Biochemistry & Physiology | Raw Rubber & Chemical Analysis | Rubber Technology & Development | Raw Rubber Process Development & Chemical Engineering | Advisory Services | Biometry | Adaptive Research
__________________________________________________________________________________________
 
     Genetics and Plant Breeding Department
 
Hand pollination/hybridization program and maintenance of hand pollination progenies
Producing new genotypes to obtain new genetic material for the future trials to develop vigorous, high yielding and disease resistant clones.
P  Seneviratne, S P  Withanage, K B  Karunasekara, K  K  Liyanage

Genotype Environment interaction studies in Rubber
Selecting highly stable and adaptable clones with high mean performance for the different agro-climatic regions of Sri Lanka.
S P  Withanage, K B  Karunasekara, K K  Liyanage
Molecular markers for genetic fingerprinting of Hevea clones
Developing DNA markers to identify clones and to introduce marker assisted selection for disease resistance of new clones.
S P  Withanage, K K  Liyanage
Conservation, evaluation and utilization of the Hevea germplasm
Conserve, evaluate and utilize rubber genetic materials for future breeding and selection programmes.
P  Seneviratne, S P  Withanage, K B  Karunasekara, K K  Liyanage.
Rubber clones for latex-timber production

Selecting rubber clones suitable for both latex and timber production.
P  Seneviratne, S P  Withanage, K B  Karunasekara, K K  Liyanag
 
 
 
   
      Plant Science Department
 
   
Seed production and floral biology of Hevea
Studying the floral biology and factors contributing to flowering and seed formation with the objective of finding ways to improve seed production in wet areas of Sri Lanka
C Nayanakantha, P  Seneviratne
Improving the quality of budded plants

Re-instating juvenility in mature clonal materials to improve the growth of plants, introducing true-to-type propagation by vegetative means to guarantee the potential yield, and to improve the root system by testing various rootstocks on scions
P Seneviratne

Intercropping systems for rubber
Increasing land productivity and to generate income during the immature phase of rubber by introducing crops such as cinnamon, fruits, timber, banana etc
V H L Rodrigo, P  Seneviratne

Exploitation methods:  Revising recommendations and introducing improved tapping utensils
Revising recommendations on girth parameters at opening for tapping, finding the effective and economical frequency of tapping to maximize yields and finding ways to remove the skill component through improved utensils
V H L Rodrigo, N A D  Wickramaratne, P Seneviratne, A M W K  Senevirathna
Incidence and trends in tapping panel dryness (TPD), chemical treatments and exploitation techniques for TPD trees
Investigating the changes in incidence of TPD with genotype and age and to find ways to obtain maximum harvest from TPD affected trees
A M W K  Senevirathna
Biotechnology and Plant Tissue Culture
Developing elite cultivars of rubber through tissue culture and genetic engineering
C Nayanakantha