Bridgestone Combats White Root Disease in Partnership Project

Bridgestone Corporation has announced the launch of a significant collaboration with partners from Japan and Indonesia to combat ‘White Root Disease’ (WRD), a fungal infection that threatens Para Rubber Trees which are crucial for the ongoing production of natural rubber. The project aims to develop cutting-edge technologies to prevent the spread of this destructive disease and safeguard the future of rubber plantations and ensure a stable rubber supply for industries including tyre manufacturing.

This highly important partnership intends to achieve a number of key objectives including stable natural rubber yields to guarantee sustainable production levels and improve overall plantation productivity to benefit both large and small scale farmers of rubber materials.

White Root Disease is recognised in the tyre industry as a serious challenge which is caused by pathogenic fungi that attacks the roots of rubber trees leading to root decay and ultimately kills the trees. The disease often goes undetected until severe damage has already occurred making it particularly difficult to manage.

Therefore, representing a major risk to both large-scale rubber plantations and smallholder farmers with the project aiming to mitigate the risk by focusing on solutions that can detect and prevent the disease at an early stage and deliver long term benefits to the rubber industry.

The project represents part of Bridgestone’s wider commitment to sustainable rubber production and to address both environmental and social issues throughout the supply chain leading to responsible sourcing of raw materials.