Tapping panel diagnosis, an innovative on-farm decision support system for rubber tree tapping

Abstract

Latex is a key product for many tropical countries, of which 80% is produced by smallholders. Latex is produced by the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). Given the 7-year immature unproductive period, establishing a rubber plantation requires considerable investment by smallholders, emphasizing the need for sustainable management. The difficulty of performing an agronomic diagnosis of a tree crop is to obtain an accurate picture of current and past cultivation practices, to be able to assess their impacts on the agro-ecosystem as well as on sustainability. Smallholders do not usually keep records of latex yield or of their technical practices, making it impossible to perform a diagnosis based on productivity. As latex harvesting involves tapping the bark, which leaves scars on the trunk, we hypothesised that these morphological traces would be good indicators of current and past practices and would thus enable a diagnosis based on the economic lifespan of plantation. To this end, we formalised a tapping panel diagnosis that involved reproducing the scars on tapping panel diagrams, and analysing them using two indicators: the amount of virgin bark consumed and the number of tapping years that remained. We validated this tapping panel diagnosis in a sample of 25 smallholder plantations in Cameroon, where we characterised eight tapping management systems reflecting different levels of tapping intensity. The assessment of the respective share of each tapping practice on virgin bark consumption revealed major effects of tapping frequency and of shaving thickness. We showed that the tapping panel diagnosis used as a decision support tool can increase remaining tapping years by 33% to 355%. To conclude, the tapping panel diagnosis formalised here for the first time will be a useful support for the participatory development of innovating tapping management schemes involving both technicians and smallholders. (Résumé d'auteur

Nutrient management of immature rubber plantations. A review

“…Most rubber plantations are monospecific stands managed as monoculture, except in Indonesia where rubber agroforest is the traditional cropping system (Feintrenie and Levang 2009). In monoculture plantations, latex is harvested for 20 to 30 years by regular tapping of the tree bark (Lacote et al 2004;Michels et al 2012), after an initial unproductive period of about 6 years called the immature phase. Improvement of tapping systems has been the main driver of rubber monoculture intensification since the release of high-yielding clones (Lacote et al 2010;Chantuma et al 2011).…”

Differences in Distribution of Potassium-Solubilizing Bacteria in Forest and Plantation Soils in Myanmar

“…Hevea brasiliensis (rubber tree) is the major source of natural rubber and is traditionally cultivated in equatorial countries, humid areas with tropical and monsoon climates [ 1 ]. Although rubber trees usually have a 7-year-long immature, unproductive period, the economic lives of rubber trees can reach 15–30 years, or even longer [ 2 ]. Chemical fertilizers are typically used for sustaining the yield, following long-term intensive rubber tapping in plantations.…”

Role of Cultivation Technology and Planting Patterns of Farmer Choice for Improving Smallholding Rubber Productivity

“…Sebaliknya, jika terjadi penumpukan bahan baku dan energi (Fa) mengindikasikan potensi tanaman belum tergali optimal sehingga intensitas sadap dapat ditingkatkan (Andriyanto dan Tistama 2014). Metode ini diimplementasikan melalui tata guna panel untuk menggali potensi produksi di semua panel sadap (kulit) dalam satu siklus ekonomi tanaman (Michels et al 2012;Lacote et al 2013). Penyadapan dalam satu siklus tanaman harus dapat memaksimalkan potensi produksi setiap panel.…”