A NEW variety of rubber tree, one that grows faster than the normal types, will be introduced to local farmers in South Cotabato (Mindanao), Philippines.
Alfonso Jack Sandique, owner of the Advance Rubber Technology Farm in Makilala, also in South Cotabato, presented tp local officials some 8,000 mature PB260 rubber trees, which were planted in his farm in 2010.
He said that compared to the normal rubber tree varieties, which take six to seven years to reach maturity, the PB260 variety takes only half the time to mature.
Sandique says that the implementation of this new variety could ease some of the problems faced by local rubber farmers such as low prices of latex and cup lumps.