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| Title | Improving smallholders’ rubber quality in Lubuk Beringin, Bungo district, Jambi province, Indonesia | | Author | Beria Leimona, Ratna Akiefnawati, Rachman Pasha and S. Suyanto | | Year | 2010 | | Publisher | World Agroforestry Centre - ICRAF, SEA Regional Office | | City of Publication | Bogor, Indonesia | | Series Number | Working Paper nr 105 | | Number of Pages | 11 | | Call Number | WP0155-11 | | Keywords | rubber agroforestry, improving rubber quality, financial and social benefit analysis |
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| Abstract: |
Smallholder rubber agroforestry is an economically and ecologically important agroforestry system in Jambi province, Sumatra, Indonesia. It contributes to rubber production nationally and is the main source of income for farmers with land of less than 5 hectare. The rubber agroforests act as buffer zones for national parks and help maintain local biodiversity, earning them the name ‘jungle rubber’. Farmers cultivating these agroforests usually have lower financial profitability compared to those cultivating monoculture rubber and oil palm. The main reasons for this are the older ages of the agroforests, which causes low quantities of rubber latex, and the low quality of the rubber slabs owing to unsound harvest and postharvest procedures. In addition, the marketing system in Jambi’s villages depends on local traders, called toke, who mostly are not transparent about the real value of dry rubber content and the market price.
Our hypothesis was that by providing incentives to ‘jungle rubber’ farmers they would be willing to conserve their rubber-tree gardens, delay or obviating their conversion to other land uses that provide less environmental services, such as monoculture rubber and oil palm.
This report describes the different procedures employed in harvesting, post-harvesting and marketing in traditional and improved production systems. It highlights changes in the ratio of revenue and costs that were borne by farmers, through the deployment of technical innovations and collective action.
Our results showed that improving rubber quality could increase farmers’ incomes fromagroforestry systems when the dry rubber content (DRC) of their rubber slabs was more than 70% and they sold to agents who could transparently advise on the DRC and fairly determine the price according to the DRC level. When the DRC was lower than 70% and the price at minimum or average levels, selling rubber to toke was more profitable compared to selling direct to the factory.
The activities that improved the rubber quality, which were coordinated by the WorldAgroforestry Centre and partners, also increased farmers’ knowledge and skills. Theseincluded practical skills to enhance their livelihoods as well as the capability to organizecollective action, which, in the end was able to increase the efficiency of their smallholding rubber businesses. Moreover, neighbouring villages considered these activities useful and profitable, indicating a potential for expansion.
Raising awareness about the ecological importance of rubber agroforestry was constantly needed in this area since there was no formal agreement that only farmers practising ‘jungle rubber’ agroforestry could enjoy access to innovative technologies and sell direct to factories. From the perspective of an environmental friendly rubber business, it is essential for rubber industries to recognise the environmental and economic value of rubber slabs coming from jungle rubber so that farmers are encouraged to maintain this ecosystem. |
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