Application of Different Rates and Frequencies of Rejuvenator for the Treatments of Brown Bast Syndrome on Hevea brasiliensis

Background: Brown bast is one of the most serious threats to natural rubber production. It is estimated that brown bast leads to an approximately 15-20% decrease in latex yield production. There is currently no effective method to control this problem and an effort to overcome this problem is in progress by the natural rubber producing countries. Methods: This study evaluated the effect and the most suitable rate and frequency of Rejuvenator application to cure brown bast (latex dryness) and improve latex yield. The Rejuvenator treatment was applied to the selected tree with two different treatment frequencies (every 3 days and every 6 days) and three different Rejuvenator concentrations (5 g/L, 10 g/L and 5 g/L). The Rejuvenator was applied 5 times. Data on latex yield and brown bast cure were then recorded 1 month after the application of the last treatment. The treatments used were T1: No Rejuvenator, T2: 5 g/L of Rejuvenator, T3: 10 g/L of Rejuvenator, T4: 15 g/L of Rejuvenator. Result: Of all the treatment used, T3 (10 g/L) resulted in higher production of latex yield and Hevea bark nutrient concentration (g/t/t) than control. It also gave the highest nutrient content in the bark tissue. The findings of this study reveal that the optimum concentration and frequency of Rejuvenator application were established at 10 g/L every 6 days. More so, the findings explain that inadequate nutrients can be attributed to the brown bast syndrome in rubber plantation which can be prevented with the use of a rejuvenator to the tree’s bark.

Study of Forest Land Function Transfer and its Role in Labour Absorption, Economic Growth and Increase in Human Development Index in West Kalimantan

Timber forests have many functions and play an essential role in human life. This means that the existence of timber forests provides many benefits for human life. Economic development activities actively implemented throughout the province of West Kalimantan have resulted in more and more areas of timber forest and rubber plantation areas being converted into oil palm plantations. The rampant development of oil palm plantations carried out by investors and those carried out independently by each resident, in essence, provides a significant enough job opportunity for the population in each area that continues to grow. Job opportunities created through economic development offer opportunities to every working population to earn income, fulfilling various life needs is mainly directed to fulfilling family nutritional consumption. If the family's nutrition is guaranteed, then the average life span of the population can be longer. In addition to meeting his family's needs, this income can also be used to finance children's education belonging to the school-age group. If the income earned by each family is large enough, then the family should be able to live in prosperity. This means that timber forest and rubber plantation areas privately owned by the community have been converted into oil palm plantations, significantly contributing to the economic growth of districts/cities in West Kalimantan province and improving the community's welfare.

Developing Multi-Source Indices to Discriminate between Native Tropical Forests, Oil Palm and Rubber Plantations in Indonesia

Over the last 18 years, Indonesia has experienced significant deforestation due to the expansion of oil palm and rubber plantations. Accurate land cover maps are essential for policymakers to track and manage land change to support sustainable forest management and investment decisions. An automatic digital processing (ADP) method is currently used to develop land cover change maps for Indonesia, based on optical imaging (Landsat). Such maps produce only forest and non-forest classes, and often oil palm and rubber plantations are misclassified as native forests. To improve accuracy of these land cover maps, this study developed oil palm and rubber plantation discrimination indices using the integration of Landsat-8 and synthetic aperture radar Sentinel-1 images. Sentinel-1 VH and VV difference (>7.5 dB) and VH backscatter intensity were used to discriminate oil palm plantations. A combination of Landsat-8 NDVI, NDMI with Sentinel-1 VV and VH were used to discriminate rubber plantations. The improved map produced four land cover classes: native forest, oil palm plantation, rubber plantation, and non-forest. High-resolution SPOT 6/7 imagery and ground truth data were used for validation of the new classified maps. The map had an overall accuracy of 92%; producer’s accuracy for all classes was higher than 90%, except for rubber (65%), and user’s accuracy was over 80% for all classes. These results demonstrate that indices developed from a combination of optical and radar images can improve our ability to discriminate between native forest and oil palm and rubber plantations in the tropics. The new mapping method will help to support Indonesia’s national forest monitoring system and inform monitoring of plantation expansion.

Sistem Pendukung Keputusan Pemilihan Bibit Tanaman Karet Dengan Metode Profile Matching

PT. Asri Jaya had difficulty in selecting the best rubber plant seeds, both for direct planting in the plantations and recommending them to be marketed to rubber plantation companies, because the types of rubber plant seeds in the company had many varieties and varied as well as different ages of seeds. -different such as BPM seeds, IRR seeds, IRC, rubber frame seeds, GT (Gondang Tapen), PB seeds (Prang Besar), and so on. The alternatives used in this research are types of rubber plant seeds, namely BPM seeds (Balai/Pusat Perkebunan Medan, IRR (Indonesian Rubber Research) rubber seeds), IRC rubber seeds (Institute Research of Ceylon), frame rubber seeds, GT rubber seeds (Gondang Tapen) and PB (Prang Besar) rubber seedlings. The criteria used in this study were umbrella shape, petiole position, petiole shape, leaf color, leaf shape, leaf bone, leaf thickness, stem height, and seedling age. which is built using the programming language used in making the system is PHP with MySQL database. To calculate the total value, it must first determine the percentage of core factore and secondary factore. In this case the core factore is determined with a percentage value of 60% considering the main factor is an the most dominant aspect or criteria for assessing the selection of rubber plant seeds, the percentage value is greater than the pe value the percentage for the secondary factor is 40%.

Soil Properties Variability Under Various Agroecosystems In Ultisols Of Bengkulu

Understanding the relation of agroecosystem types, ages, and soil properties are vital in maintaining good quality soil. This study aims to explore the variation of selected soil properties with agroecosystem types and ages. The research has been conducted in North Bengkulu, Indonesia. Soil properties on agroecosystems of 5-yr, 10-yr, 15-yr oil palm plantation, 5-yr, 10-yr, 15-yr rubber plantation, food cropland, and scrubland were evaluated. The study found that soil in oil palm and rubber plantations of any age have a similar texture, bulk density (BD), and actual soil moisture (ASM). All plantation agroecosystems and scrubland have higher clay and lower silt content than that in food cropland. In addition, the scrubland has the highest ASM content among the agroecosystems. On the other hand, both agroecosystems enhances soil chemical properties than food cropland and scrubland as indicated by the improvement of organic-C, total-N, available P, exchangeable K and CEC of Ultisols. Older plantation also provides higher soil chemical improvement than younger one. This finding is significant for management of sub optimal soil mainly Ultisols for oil palm and rubber plantation.

Effects of tropical rainforest conversion to rubber plantation on soil quality in Hainan Island, China

Land-use changes can alter soil properties and thus affect soil quality. Our understanding of how forest conversion (from tropical rainforest to rubber plantations) affects soil properties and soil quality is limited. An ideal testing ground for analyzing such land-use change and its impacts is Hainan Island, the largest tropical island in China. Based on 21 soil physicochemical and biological properties, a soil quality index (SQI) employed principal component analysis to assess soil quality changes from the conversion of tropical rainforests to rubber plantations. The results showed that (i) soil available potassium, available phosphorus, microbial biomass carbon, cellulose decomposition, acid phosphatase, and urease were vital soil properties for soil quality assessment on Hainan Island. (ii) The SQI of rubber plantations decreased by 26.48 % compared to tropical rainforests, while four investigated soil properties (soil pH, total phosphorus, cellulose decomposition, and actinomyces) increased. (iii) The SQI of both the tropical rainforests and rubber plantations showed significant spatial differences, which, under tropical rainforests, was more sensitive to seasonal changes than those under rubber plantations. (iv) Structural equation modeling suggested that forest conversion directly impacted soil quality and, indirectly impacted soil qualities' spatial variation by their interaction with soil types and geographical positions. Overall, though the conversion of tropical rainforest to rubber plantation did not decrease all soil properties, the tropical rainforest with its high soil quality should be protected.

Livelihood Impacts of Smallholder Rubber Plantations: Case Studies of Two Communities in Vientiane Province, Lao PDR

<p>In Laos rubber plantation investment has increased significantly in recent years, supported by the Government. Farmers decide to cultivate rubber trees in order to generate greater income and diversify their agricultural activities. However, rubber planting also creates impacts on the livelihoods of farmers. This research aims to examine the impacts of rubber plantations on two communities in Vientiane Province. Utilising the sustainable livelihood framework, this research seeks to understand how the introduction of rubber plantations affect livelihood activities, the local land use system, and the environment in the case study communities. Key positive impacts include increased income and job opportunities. However, increased rubber planting reduces the availability of land for crops and livestock rearing and also creates some adverse environmental impacts. Overall, rubber production significantly modifies local agricultural production systems and resource use decision making in communities.</p>

Livelihood Impacts of Smallholder Rubber Plantations: Case Studies of Two Communities in Vientiane Province, Lao PDR

<p>In Laos rubber plantation investment has increased significantly in recent years, supported by the Government. Farmers decide to cultivate rubber trees in order to generate greater income and diversify their agricultural activities. However, rubber planting also creates impacts on the livelihoods of farmers. This research aims to examine the impacts of rubber plantations on two communities in Vientiane Province. Utilising the sustainable livelihood framework, this research seeks to understand how the introduction of rubber plantations affect livelihood activities, the local land use system, and the environment in the case study communities. Key positive impacts include increased income and job opportunities. However, increased rubber planting reduces the availability of land for crops and livestock rearing and also creates some adverse environmental impacts. Overall, rubber production significantly modifies local agricultural production systems and resource use decision making in communities.</p>

Design and development of an automated robot for collecting latex cups in rubber plantation

The main reason for robots in agriculture are saving the time and energy required for performing repetitive tasks and increasing the productivity. The turnover rate in rubber plantation is high and youngster nowadays refuse to work in this industrial. This project aims to build a small-scaled automated robot prototype for collecting latex cups in hopes to reduce the dependency of labor in collecting latex. It was fabricated by using 3D printer and consists of transmission system, linear actuator robotic arm and a storage tank. It was analyzed through static test and balance test for mechanical stability. The robot developed can perform auto-navigation with proper calibration on the transmission at flat terrain, and able to control the 3 Degree of Freedom (DoF) robotic arm on the prototype to grab the latex cup smoothly. Ultrasonic sensors are used to locate the rubber trees and movements of the prototype. The robotic arm and the base are controlled by an Arduino Uno and motor driver circuit respectively. A magnetometer was implemented to ensure the prototype could move straight throughout the process. During test, the prototype was placed in front of two “rubber trees” (imitated by water bottle) to let it retrieves the model latex cups and extract the liquid inside. The results showed that implementation of magnetometer enabled the robot much more consistent in the moving direction and proper delay time used for the navigation of the robot. The prototype is able to automate basic tasks and act as fundamental design for future development.