Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Malaysian Rubber Trees

Those who have not seen how the natural rubber is being produced will be wondering how it is done.
It starts with the rubber three like below. About six years after planting, it can be tapped.

Tapping is the manual process of control cut of the skin of the three. It is normal to tap half of the diameter.

Malaysia was the biggest producer of natural rubber until it decided to venture to palm oil. However it remains as the most effective producer, the highest Kg per Hectare.

Rubber taping requires high labor, as each tree has to be tapped manually.


Uneven growth makes tapping difficult..



The plantation was sprayed with herbicide to get rid of scrub and small trees.



The entrant road to the rubber plantation is full over small bushes. The non-metal road gets a bit slippery during the rainy season.

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The rubber trees are ready for tapping, when it reached the age of seven.





There are basically 3 ways the planter can sell the product.
1. he can leave it in the cup until it harden by itself.
2. he can collect the latex and sell the latex as unprocessed.
3. he can collect the latex and make it into rubber sheet.

Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages.



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