Economics of smallholder rubber expansion in Northern Laos

Abstract

In Northern Laos, as elsewhere in the Southeast Asian uplands, there is an agricultural transition underway from subsistence production based on shifting cultivation to commercial production based on tree crops. In response to demand from China, rubber smallholdings are being established by shifting cultivators in Northern Laos, encouraged by government land-use policy. We examine the bioeconomics of smallholder rubber production in an established rubber-growing village and model the likely expansion of smallholder rubber in Northern Laos. Data were obtained from key informants, group interviews, direct observation, and a farm-household survey. Latex yields were estimated using the Bioeconomic Rubber Agroforestry Support System (BRASS). A financial model was developed to estimate the net present value for a representative rubber smallholding. This model was then combined with spatial data in a Geographical Information System (GIS) to predict the likely expansion of rubber based on resource quality and accessibility. Implications are drawn for upland development in the region.

Rubber Plantation Expansion Related Land Use Change along the Laos-China Border Region

“…Research performed mainly focused on changes of the structure and type conversion, while we analyzed LUCC from the perspectives of structure, type conversion and spatial pattern [23,33]. We paid more attention to the changes of swidden land and rubber plantation, which were affected significantly by human activities [24,31,32,47,48]. In light of the quality of Landsat images and limited field samples, accuracy assessment of land use and land cover classification maps should be improved further, especially for the grassland and tea garden.…”

Consequences of Swidden Transitions for Crop and Fallow Biodiversity in Southeast Asia

“…Throughout montane mainland Southeast Asia, rubber is increasingly occupying the mountain landscapes (Thongmanivong et al 2005;Xu 2006;Manivong and Cramb 2008;Ziegler et al 2009a). The scale of these monoculture systems has virtually wiped out the agrobiodiversity that once flourished in swidden fields and is contributing to the loss of high diversity rain forest (Li et al 2007;Qiu 2009).…”

Socioeconomic and Ecological Impact Analysis of Rubber Cultivation in Southeast Asia

“…Though recently many high-yielding clones have been developed for commercial planting, natural rubber still remains the most economically important member of the genus Hevea. This is due to the fact that, the extracted milky latex, is the primary source of natural rubber [20] [22]. Moreso, the tree grows well under cultivation and a properly managed tree responds to wounding by producing more latex for several years [20] [29].…”

“…ways [20] [29]. Laos for instance, has seen a dramatic increase in rubber cultivation and tapping beginning from the mid1990s and especially since the mid-2000s, as hundreds of thousands of hectares of mainly forest lands and former swidden fields have been converted into monoculture rubber plantations [17] [30] [31].…”

“…Largely fuelled by increased demand for raw rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) latex in India and especially China mainland Southeast Asia has recently experienced a "rubber boom" [16] [17]. While there was a huge expansion of rubber in southern Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia in the 1970s and 1980s, most recently rubber planting has mainly targeted previously peripheral and remote parts of the region, such as rural and upland areas in China, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos [12] [18]- [20]. According to the International Rubber Study Group, the annual production for 2014 in SE Asia stood at 11,183,000 tons for a world average of 12,070,000 tons [21], Figure 2.…”