EL GOBIERNO DE LA IGLESIA LOCAL

In general, although some of the farmers know that clonal rubber has a better yield, the cost of establishing clonal rubber was higher than they can afford; especially if the farmers were thinking that clonal rubber should be monoculture and requires an intensive system. Some non adopter respondents said:

Clonal rubber needs more capital, I have to do fertilising and weeding regularly, I have no money. But if the government gives us clonal seedlings, fertiliser and cash for weeding it will be good for us as we have no capital, not like rich farmers (Non adopter Rantau Pandan) I am not interested in clonal rubber seedlings yet, mainly because of their high cost and they must be fenced. I have heard that without fencing they will not grow better. And the seedlings are difficult to bring to the field. I can transport 300 seedlings to the field in one trip, but it is impossible to do this with clonal seedlings as they need a polybag (Non adopter, Rantau Pandan).

I gave up the idea of having clonal rubber. I cannot plant clonal rubber as I do not have the ability to guard the rubber garden. I have to put on pesticides and fence the garden. Clonal rubber is very demanding. I can’t do maintenance like that even though I have heard that the results of clonal rubber are better than local (Non adopter, R Pandan).

Only rich people with enough money can plant clonal rubber, as they have a regular and secure income every month for their daily life. They can ask their employees to help them or pay labour. We are poor people who have no capital and clonal rubber needs more money for fertilizing, weeding and fencing [than local]. Our income is totally dependent on rubber. If we have to establish new clonal rubber, we have no money for everyday life. Who will earn an income for daily life when we are establishing clonal rubber until it achieves results? (Non adopter, Rantau Pandan).

Capital is very important for me. Capital is number one that we need to establish a rubber garden. In the past we did not need much capital

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to establish a garden and we could handle it ourselves and we did not need to owe anything to other farmers. But as for clonal rubber, we were surprised that we need more capital and have no resources [to get it] (Non adopter, Sepunggur).

Capital becomes an important constraint for farmers in the adoption of clonal rubber. Farmers think the cost of establishing clonal rubber was far higher than local rubber. They have to buy clonal rubber rather than get it for free from existing old rubber, and also pay for fencing to protect the plants from pests, as well as fertiliser and herbicides.

1. The Rubber Agroforestry System is an innovation for the rubber farmers and was quite different from their traditional system. For example, they have to buy rubber seedlings rather than get them for free from the old jungle rubber. The clonal seedlings were more than double the price of local seedlings. In the jungle rubber system planting material can be obtained freely, or at low cost if bought in a traditional market. The price of clonal seedlings from private nurseries was more than twice the price of local seedlings and this did not include the cost to transport the seedlings. In addition the seedlings sold by traders were of poor quality and there was no guarantee of the purity of clonal seedlings. The farmers do not want to take a risk spending money on low quality clonal seedlings.

2. The farmers have to establish a fence to protect the young trees from pests especially pigs and other animals such as domesticated cows, sheep and buffalo that are left to forage freely. Protection was important because of the large investment in clonal rubber seedlings.

3. Clonal seedlings were grown in a polybag before planting out in the field whereas local seedlings can be planted directly from the stump. If the location of the farmer’s rubber garden is far from his house transportation will be a problem. Farmers bring more than 100 local seedling stumps to the field in one trip. In contrast they can only transport around 20 clonal

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4. Fertilising: the clonal seedlings need fertiliser to grow and yield well. However during planting time sometimes fertiliser was not available in the market or, if it was available the price was very expensive. As a result fertiliser may not be applied in quantities or at the frequency required to achieve the desired growth and yield.

5. Pesticides: Some clonal seedlings were not resistant to pests and diseases and need to be protected or, where infestation has occurred, remedies need to be applied. Some fungi need to be eliminated as soon as possible to prevent damage in the infected tree and to prevent it spreading to surrounding trees. Pesticides are sometimes expensive in the market.

6. Establishing a new rubber plantation will mean that the farmer will have to work on the new land and may have no other source of income for the family’s daily life because the farmer has no time to tap latex from his old rubber plantation. One farmer asked for support and wages from the government for their daily living expenses while they opened a new rubber plantation using the new system.