Thread: Rubber trees 101

rd, how are you going to water them, August is very late time of year to plant around here.
First year is when you lose most of your trees, seen whole plantations die of thirst, long way to song kran and the rains. Jim

This is my 9th year in the rubber game. It is now my ONLY income. I have done all tractor work in that time on a 64 rai plantation, ploughing, rotorvating and now just grass cutting. For ease of use i like my land to be as flat as possible. RD, why the big channels dug with the excavator?
Ditto Jim's comments, planting up here (Udon) is done at the very beginning of the rainy season, ie May/June, July nearly too late. Perhaps you have different rainfall patterns where you are further south?
Mike.
ps, soil looks good though.

Need a bit of help from those that have good net, as said mine is really, really slow when it even bothers to work, no chance of downloading youtube.

So can some one have a look at needle tapping, all I get is some newspaper articles about it, no pics or descriptions of what is used or how it's done.

If someone can have a look and tell me if it looks good, out put and worker wise.
Thanks Jim

jamescollister,
rd, how are you going to water them, August is very late time of year to plant around here.
First year is when you lose most of your trees, seen whole plantations die of thirst, long way to song kran and the rains. Jim

.

i have pond in my farm, i water them every 3rd day if no rain. only thing i worry it grass growing too fast because i don't use grass chemical, i have ten worker to cleaning it up. cost me lot money. Jim when can i use grass chemical?. matt.

Matt, how many rai? If a lot, then you are going to continue to pay out a lot. Thought about a little tractor with a grass cutter for the 6-7 metres, then a petrol strimmer for the 3 metres and around the trees. keeps costs down in the long run, plus you can do all the work yourself. Or it's a one man job.

Matt, stay away from using chems to kill grass. Chant the Mantra grass cut grass cut grass cut. Never had chems on my land in 9 years. Plantations that have used it a lot never have the right looking canopy and leaf, also suffer from soil erosion. The grass is what keeps the soil together in heavy rainy seasons in the first 2-4 years of the trees growth. Grass is good, but it's also a pain keeping on top of it.
Mike.

Originally Posted by rubberdiesel

jamescollister,
rd, how are you going to water them, August is very late time of year to plant around here.
First year is when you lose most of your trees, seen whole plantations die of thirst, long way to song kran and the rains. Jim

.

i have pond in my farm, i water them every 3rd day if no rain. only thing i worry it grass growing too fast because i don't use grass chemical, i have ten worker to cleaning it up. cost me lot money. Jim when can i use grass chemical?. matt.

Matt, you can plough between the rows for the first 2 years, grass won't grow when it gets dry, but dead dry grass will burn.
Try to use as little poison as possible, but you will have to poison, get a Honda weed whacker/scrub cutter and just keep hacking away for years. Jim

PS no one watch the you tube vid on rubber needle tapping.

thaiguzzi,
Matt, how many rai? If a lot, then you are going to continue to pay out a lot. Thought about a little tractor with a grass cutter for the 6-7 metres, then a petrol strimmer for the 3 metres and around the trees. keeps costs down in the long run, plus you can do all the work yourself. Or it's a one man job.

24 rais now. i do thought about a tractor, but 24 rais it not a lot. i wait until i plant 5000 trees (60 rais) then i buy tractor. i lease this land to someone for 4 years they used alot chemical and fertilizer. alomost year now chemical. thanks thaiguzzi.

matt..

jamescollister,
Matt, you can plough between the rows for the first 2 years, grass won't grow when it gets dry, but dead dry grass will burn.
Try to use as little poison as possible, but you will have to poison, get a Honda weed whacker/scrub cutter and just keep hacking away for years. Jim

ok jim i bought grass trimmer with steel blade. let see how many worker i can replace. thanks jim.
ps do you have website address on youtube video on rubber needle tapping?
i when no video.

matt.

https://www.google.co.th/search?q=ru...&bih=653&dpr=1

With the number of skilled rubber tappers largely coming down in villages, a group of hillside farmers in Kozhikode are planning to try a new method which can replace the traditional, and strenuous, way of collecting latex from rubber trees.

More than 100 persons have already registered with a local trust in Thamarassery, which offers field training in the method, named ‘needle tapping,’ with the support of an expert farmer from Thodupuzha.

The technique, yet to become popular among the traditional farmers, makes use of a specially made knife that is thrust into the bark of the tree. The latex is channelled to a suitable container.

The number of openings is decided considering the size and growth of the rubber trees.

Longer life

Unlike the traditional system, which makes circular incisions on the bark, the new method harms the tree less and hence the lifespan of the tre could go up.

S. George, a farmer who has already trained many in the method, says it can attract new generation farmers who are struggling to thrive in the field owing to their lack of expertise in the traditional tapping method. “Needle tapping is very easy to learn and one can practise it within hours after the training,” he adds.

Needle tapping is possible even in four-year-old rubber trees as against the completion of a seven-year-term in the conventional method.

Not expensive

According to Mr. George, changing to the new method is not much expensive either as he will have to invest only Rs.500 to purchase the knife and bear the small expense for the pipes to collect latex.

Though the Rubber Board is yet to give green signal t the practice, the settler families here are planning to give it a shot as it does not damage the trees. Rahul Kuttappan, a 28-year-old farmer from Kuppayakkode, says he is planning to introduce the new method in his one-acre rubber plantation on an experimental basis.

This medical physicist-turned farmer is also confident that he can pick up the technique at a field training programme at Ambayathode on September 21.


In ‘needle tapping,’ circular incisions are not made




Hope this helps.

Thanks for that CB, none the wiser though can't down load you tube.
Did it look good. off to town tomorrow, if time allows will get into a internet shop and have a look. Jim

Thanks CB, for giving the information to us all. Do they sell the needle tapping supplies in Thailand?. matt.

Originally Posted by rubberdiesel

Thanks CB, for giving the information to us all. Do they sell the needle tapping supplies in Thailand?. matt.

Haven't found a supplier in Thailand, not unusual, can't find any thing on line here, but China seems to make them. No pictures, so it maybe something totally different.

Didn't get time to watch the video in town today, but when I get to see it will e mail the designer to get the info. Jim

Sold yesterday at auction, Udon, kee yang, 39.68 baht per kg. 68 satang up on a fortnight ago. Interesting, when the price was way higher at the beginning of the season, there were never more than 4-5 bidders. Now the price is far lower, the missus reckons there are never less than 10 bids, sometimes 12-13. Last auction was won by a woman from the deep south who has moved up here, she needed 6 mil in cash to payout; at 39 baht per kg, thats over 15000 kgs. Not bad for a small local auction.

Re my last post, got those figures wrong, it was 16 mil cash to pay out for over 41,000 kgs.

Thaiguzzi can you please tell me where the rubber auction takes place in Udon and on which days?

Our local one is in Santisuk, about 10 kms from Ban Dung on the road out to Kham Chanot. There are 2 other local ones within 40 kms of Ban Dung. They are all fortnightly, our next one is on monday/tuesday 4/5 November. As stated before, you need to deliver on the first day, weigh and payout on the second.
Mike.

Many Thanks, is it obvious from the road?

[quote=jamescollister;2585898]

Originally Posted by rubberdiesel

Thanks CB, for giving the information to us all. Do they sell the needle tapping supplies in Thailand?. matt.

Haven't found a supplier in Thailand, not unusual, can't find any thing on line here, but China seems to make them. No pictures, so it maybe something totally different.

Didn't get time to watch the video in town todlingingus

Found this googlein.....good luck with getting anything out of the Indian chappies...tried to buy rain guards a few years back....seems they don't want to know or too hard..

Rubber Needle Tapping - Buy Rubber Needle Tapping,Rubber Tree Knife,Tapping Sword Product on Alibaba.com

Too many uanswered questions on the methodology and returns, labour intensity ( seconds per tree?) etc..... hard to believe higher yield per tree does not translate to less cutting days? Still have to collect?

re rain guards:
Have experimented with a black garbage bag draped over cut panel and cup secured with quintessential knotted inner tube rubber on a couple of more exposed trees at edge of plantation area. Works okay with minimal water ingress to cup. Implementation impossible as I am obviously a stupid farang who knows nothing....probably true?

Originally Posted by mykthemin

Many Thanks, is it obvious from the road?

It's right on the road. Left hand side, about 10 kms from Ban Dung heading out on the main Ban Muang road, about 3 kms after the Kham Chanot turn off. Open all day. Guards overnight with M16s so no theft worries.

I have ca.3000 Rubber Tree and plant 2 year,s ago at x mass.the rai saison that year start to early and my suplyer can't enter my land with his machine for drilling. Every 2. Week give water( have big klong at my land). I lost 1000 tree ,I don,t know why but no problem.the suplyer fix all for free.
For controlling the gras,and fertiliser -use a team from Cambodia ,not so expensive,.
The only problem is to controlling the water in rain saison .i cut some trenches around the land with a backhoe and let the water go true my pumping sump ,where I move it to the klong.
I hope the next 4 or 5 year,s my tree grow up healty and I cane start to harvesting .