Rubber Plantation Business

by Denis Tifanny

Contents

  Chapter 1 – Choosing Base and Plant

  Choosing Base/Land3

  Choosing Plant4

  Types of rubber4

  Types of Natural Rubber6

  Processed Rubber Material7

  Conventional Natural Rubber10

  Concentrated Latex13

  Block Rubber15

  Crumb Rubber16

  Tyre Rubber16

  Reclaimed Rubber17

  Synthetic Rubber and Its Quality Standard18

  Common Usage of Synthetic Rubber18

  Special Usage of Synthetic Rubber19

  Advantages of Rubber21

  Advantages of Natural Rubber21

  Advantages of Synthetic Rubber23

  Other Usage of Rubber Tree23

  Tillage and Planting Process28

  Planting30

  Rubber Planting System30

  i.Poly-culture System30

  ii.Mono-culture System32

  Way of Planting Seedlings33

  i.Dismantling Seedlings33

  ii. Transport33

  Planting Execution34

  i.Planting Rubber34

  ii.Planting Cover Crops35

  Seeds’ Need36

  Maintaining Plant before Production37

  Replanting37

  Weeding37

  Fertilizing Plants38

  Selection and Thinning40

  Maintaining Cover Crops40

  Maintaining Plant after Production40

  Weeding41

  Fertilizing42

  Pest Disturbance43

  i.Pests43

  ii.Snail45

  iii.Mammals - Boar46

  Disease Disturbance48

  i.Root Disease – White Root Disease48

  ii.Stem Disease – Spotted Cancer50

  iii.Tapping Field Disease – Line Cancer52

  iv.Leaf Disease – Colletotrichum Disease53

  Tapping55

  Mature Tapping Determination55

  Tapping Tools56

  i.Patron56

  ii.Tapping Knife56

  iii.Spout57

  iv.Collection Cup57

  v.Cup Hanger57

  vi.Hanger Thread57

  vii.Meter58

  viii.Mal Knife58

  ix.Calliper58

  Drawing Tapping Field58

  Execution of Tapping59

  i.Tapping Slice Thickness59

  ii.Tapping Slice Depth60

  iii.Execution Time61

  iv.Tapping Field Bark Recovery61

  Frequency and Intensity of Tapping62

  Exploitation System63

  i.Conventional Exploitation System63

  ii.Stimulation Exploitation System64

  iii.Stab Exploitation System66

  Bibliography68

  ~Chapter 1~

  Choosing Base And Plant

 

  Choosing Base/Land

  Choosing your base or your land for the plantation is not that easy. Before you choose the land that you need, you have to check what kind of environmental condition is suitable for planting rubber plants (Hevea Brasiliensis).

  Hevea Brasiliensis or rubber plant requirements to survive:

  Planted around 0-400m above sea level with the maximum slope of 45°

  Deep, well drained loamy soil. Loamy soil has more nutrients and it is more humus than sandy soils, and others. It also retains water.

  It needs to be on the plateau so it does not need to tolerate flooding.

  It can stay on land of pH 4-8 which is acidic and slightly alkaline.

  It needs some legumes (groundcover):

  To control the weeds.

  To create less competition on the land.

  Produces more nitrogen which makes nitrogen not a limited factor.

  Keeping soil moist.

  Requires annual rainfall of 1500-4000mm/year, evenly throughout the year best will be between 2500-4000mm with 100-150 rainy days per year.

  The best temperature for this tree is between 20°C-27°C.

  Rubber plantation should be connected in one area and to scattered. The unification of these areas meant for the young plants are easily controlled.

  After attaining this knowledge you will be able to look for the suitable place to plant the Hevea Brasiliensis. The list above will be able to let you choose the place and survey the location for the plantation.

  Choosing Plant

  Types of rubber

  Before choosing a plant, there are other things you need to know. These things are what you call 2 types of rubber. These 2 types are the Natural rubber and the Synthetic Rubber.

  Synthetic Rubber is used frequently compared to natural rubber. This is because it has more types of chemical and the price remains stable. It rarely causes any problems sending or supplying consumers. Even though the total production of natural rubber is lower compared to synthetic rubber, natural rubber cannot be replaced by synthetic rubber. Natural rubber has its own excellence that cannot be surpassed by synthetic rubber.

  There are more advantages of the natural rubber:

  It has perfect resilience and elasticity.

  It has good plasticity that it simplifies the process.

  Low heat power.

  High groove cracking resistance.

  There are also other factors that make synthetic rubber special:

  Resistance to various types of chemical.

  Stable Price.

  Rarely has any problems sending or supplying to consumers.

  The points above are the things that natural rubber lacks. The price and supply of natural rubber will always change, and sometimes it changes turbulently. This turbulent change of price damages the market and troubles the producers. Sometimes because of the release of new regulations from the producer’s government the international market will be affected.

  Even though natural rubbers have some weakness in the chemical side, it has a good market share. These market shares are:

  Tyre Industry – tyre uses more natural rubber, even though it mixes with synthetic rubber.

  Air Plane Industry – almost all of the raw materials of airplane is made put of natural rubber.

  Production ratio of Natural rubber and Synthetic rubber is 1 to 2. However the total consumption of both is almost the same.

  Year

  1990

  2000

  2005

  Natural Rubber

  Production

  1.262

  1.501

  2.267

  Consumption

  108

  139

  218

  Synthetic Rubber