Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
used; (5) they had never applied before and did not know how; (6) applying fertiliz-
ers caused health problems; and (7) their rubber trees were still young.
All households cleared weeds every year, usually by hand but the use of herbicide
had become more common. Households who never applied herbicide reported that
they (1) did not have enough money, (2) did not know how to apply it, (3) were still
able to control weeds by hand weeding or hiring labour, (4) were afraid of being
affected by the chemicals, (5) were afraid that their rubber trees might die, and (6)
could not carry water for herbicide application because their plots were far from
water sources. Pests were not a serious problem but diseases such as yellow leaf disease
and root disease were reported as a serious issue by nearly 80 percent.
Almost all households intercropped their rubber plots for up to 3 years (though
pineapple was also intercropped with mature rubber trees). The predominant inter-
crop was upland rice, followed by maize and pineapple. Raising livestock in rubber
plots was not common because farmers were afraid the rubber trees would be
destroyed, especially by large livestock. However, some households raised chickens
in their rubber plots during the mature phase.
About 71 percent of households were tapping their rubber trees at the time of the
survey. Most of these (91 percent) tapped on alternate days, as recommended. The
standard of tapping appeared quite high. Tapping on alternate days provided farm-
ers with smaller holdings the opportunity to undertake other livelihood activities
when not tapping. Farmers usually tapped in the eight month period from April to
November. If tapping on alternate days, this gives a total of 120 tapping days in a
year. The latex obtained each day was simply poured into a large plastic bucket or
plastic bag and left to solidify for about 24 hours before being removed as a solid
lump of 30 to 50 kg and stored for subsequent sale as 'tub-lump' rubber.
The main technical problem related to rubber cultivation mentioned by respond-
ents was the difficulty faced in the period before the rubber was tapped, when they
had to work harder both growing rice and taking care of their rubber and also faced
a rice deficit. Farmers also mentioned their concern about transporting tub-lump
rubber from the newer plots to the village because these plots were far from the
village and the road. In other respects farmers were technically competent in rubber
cultivation.
5.6.3
Rubber Yield, Sales, and Income
An area of 266 ha (120,000 trees), planted between 1994 and 1996, is currently at
the tappable stage. The first harvest of rubber began in 2002 with the production of
22 t, increasing to 95 t in 2003 and 150 t in 2004 (Table 5.7). The average rubber
production per tapping household was 655 kg in 2002, 887 kg in 2003, and 1,211 kg
in 2004. The average yield in the first year of tapping was 904 kg ha
−1
, but increased
to 1,380 kg ha
−1
in the second year and 1,999 kg ha
−1
in the third (Table 5.8). This
pattern is consistent with the normal yield profile of a rubber plantation. Another
reason for the sharp increase in yield may be that tapping was a new skill for
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