timber

The word I got was 2.5 > 3 baht by someone that harvests oil palm. Thanks for the comment

On the governmental site, we can read the host page, but when we click on a link it comes out as gobbledygook. Don't suppose you know how to download the Thai fonts to read these pages by any chance?

I should add that all the pages are readable (in Thai) except for one that has the prices on it. Must be a different font, for some reason.

Hmm my computer came with the thai fonts on the operating system. Can normally download on internet. I would put the question on the internet forum. Should be better expertise than me there. Should say what your computer is and operation system.

martaway not sure of your background so I speak of things you may know about.

There are so many variables involved in what you are asking that no one can answer that question for

your situation, and the variables may cause a 200% difference or more. Whether you water, fertilize etc. The stock

you use, how often you tap or harvest, etc. Prices can change 100% in a given year. You just have to do lots of surfing and make your own assessment. Can take someone from an university or government to your site and have them assess it. Bottom lines is, what you decide on doing will have a major effect on the outcome. If you want to make money there are better crops to grow, but may need more attention. A

pretty good investment is to surf this and the farming forum. Much of the information you need is there. Be careful about relying too much on

what someone else says.

Here are some sites in Thai. Try them out. I don't speak Thai so hopefully they will have links or what ever.

http://www.yangpara.com/

http://www.thailandrubber.thaigov.net/index_home.php

'Mobi D'Ark' I found one a few months ago by the government or university. I have lost all the book marks that I had. Will send you if relocate. new computers can be a pain.

Any comments of the following? Seems to be a bit different that anything I have seen before.

The Bangkok Post carried an article with the following processing of oil to bio-diesel:

1. Filter oil to get rid of the food particles (if cooking oil.)

2. Boil at 60 degrees Celsius for about 10 minutes.

3. Add to every 75 liters of refined oil

• 15 liters of methyl alcohol

• 500 grammes of baking soda

4. Stir for one to two minutes

5. Leave mixture over night

6. When the top layer solidifies remove and add water.

7. Let the mixture sit in the sun for a few days and then is ready for use.

The team said they had used for four years and no problems to date.

They buy cooking oil for 4.5 baht per litre and say that their costs are 18 baht per litre.

Is the biodiesel plant in Pluket using oil palm

For those who aren't familar with what happens in the Rubber Tapping process this is a pretty worth while look.

http://sarawak-rubbertapper.tripod.com/process.htm

For those who don't know the Rubber Tapping process this is worth a look at.

http://sarawak-rubbertapper.tripod.com/process.htm

I guess high yield trees depend a bit on putting them into the right environment, and giving them the tools to maximize their potential. There sure are a lot of things you can do. I guess the bottom line is getting a return on your investment. One thing a lot of people ignore is to go down to the forestry or agricultural office and find some guy who knows something about growing rubber or oil palm and ask him what he thinks. I used to do this back in Canada and it is amazing how happy they are to have someone to talk to. They generally have a wealth of good information or are quite willing to get it for you. Not many people do this.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC781E/AC781E09.htm

A piece on an article from the above site on research in Malaysia

By the end of 1999 a total of 1,700 ha of pilot plantation had been established in various locations. Among the promising clones tested include RRIM623, RRIM900's series, PM10, PB235, PB260, and the newly launched RRIM2000's clones. Potential clones recommended by RRIM are categorized into two groups. Group I refers to clones that have proven tract records, tested and yield performance of five years in large scale clone trials recorded. Some of these clones are projected to yield between 1,500 to 2,000 kg of latex annually, and wood volume per tree between 0.75 m3 to 1.3 m3 per tree at age 15. These figures are more that 200 to 300% higher as compared to the old clones which now being harvested by the industry. Group II refers to clones which are selected in small scale clones trials based on five years yield record and the secondary characters available. These include clones from RRIM900 series and RRIM2000 series. The projected latex yields are between 2,000 to 3,000 kg per year and total timber per tree between 1.0 to 1.3 m3. at year 15. The performance of these clones in different climate, soil and disease environment are not available. Therefore these clones are only recommended for planting under close monitoring.

Sorry Joe, keep forgetting to log in at work. Comments from Timber

Issangeorge

On the second web page you posted there is some pretty good stuff on oil palm too. Thanks

He posted about the same thing in the southern section a while back. I did some web work on what he said and much of it was the opposite of what he was saying. Rubber effects the bio-diversity of the environment as many other things. In general birds like rubber. Not toxic. I don't think he does much homework on what he says. a bit of an eco-terrorist

SanukJoe Have to think about that for a while. Get back to you next week. I kinda like haven't something in the south. I hope the overall thaivisas visionary group thinks a little about stratifying some forums as I think this subject comes up in a few cases where the valuable information gets lost in generalizatons. or too much information. Some sub forums where you click on farming and there is a forum on rubber trees with subsections under that. Thanks for pushing it Joe.

Thanks for the information Friend2. My brother in law has been running a rubber plantation for about 20 on booked land. You would tear your hair out if you knew what that was. How much per kg are you selling palm oil fruit for these days? Appreciate your answer. I think it was 1 - 1.5 baht per kg I think about a year ago.

SunukJoe

You are right. How do we go about it?

Joe

Some good ideas. Hehehe sanuk. Scoocumchuk means wild water in Salish an Indian dialect of coastal British Columbia. A forum we should think that over. We have this alread, although a log of good information gets lost because it is too cumbersome to look at it. Issan has the farming forum. A question to ask the powers that be. An oil palm and rubber forum would sure make it easier to find information and have a lot less questions asked by the newbies.

[The purpose of this study was to evaluate the response of rubber tree [Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex Adr. de Juss.) Müell. Arg.] to NPK fertilization in order, to improve fertilizer recommendation during the immature phase of this crop. It reports the results obtained from an experiment conducted on a podzolic soil at Matão, State of São Paulo, Brazil. It was a randomized block design in a fractionated factorial experiment 1/2(4 x 4 x 4) using 0, 40, 80 and 120 kg.ha-1 of N, P2O5 e K2O. Fertilizers were applied every year starting eight months after planting. During the experimental period evaluations of trunk girth 1.20 m above the budgrafting union was measured at each four months. The percentage of plants able for tapping and the period of immaturity were calculated from girth measurements. Soil and plant analysis were performed at several ages. Plant responses to potassium fertilizations were observed starting at 24 months of plant age. Linear NK interaction was frequently observed after 48 months of plant age. Considering the percentage of plants able for tapping, responses were linearly and statistically significant for K fertilization, while N responses were observed in some ocasions. The immaturity period of the crop was significantly affected only by K fertilizers. Besides of this observation, the analysis of the response surface showed that the immaturity period was very dependent on equilibrated relations among nutrients. Unbalanced relations of NPK can delay up to 15 months the beginning of tapping, considering differences between the best and worst treatments. In the absence of K fertilization there was an antagonistic effect of N and P. Potassium fertilization was essential to reduce the immaturity period.

Ramses

Some very interesting sites that you listed. The last few days in this forum have been really informative. I grew up in the development of an industry where the conditions were harsh and extremely variable. Would meet with a group of people and develop ideas and take them away and apply as personnel conditions dictated. This applied to both equipment and methods used. We had very good experienced contractors doing the work. We would get government policies and company needs given to us and we had to figure out how to do in a productive cost effective way. I had a contractor who couldn't read or write, but had good experience and common sense and came up with adaptations than were used by many others. A thought for the future. Would be nice to have a group of people involved in the rubber industry get together for a few days and trade minds to see how we can each improve their lot. I think we all act as individuals when we should be networking to increase the opportunities for all. We aren't competing with each other to my knowledge. So if I can give you some ideas and I get some in return I am ahead. As my father told me when you quit learning it was time to call it quits. We can come up with an agenda of stuff people are wanting to learn more about, meet a bit drink a bit and build future contacts.

Ramses

I am not doubting anyone. Just thirsty for knowledge. If you have the right soil types and moisture and fertilize properly then you should get good production. Is easier to get good production in the south than the north or northeast as there are less variables. I think there is room for more production on my in-laws plantation, but I am having problems finding out what they are doing. They are definitely getting about 3 kg per rai per day when tapping. Just don't know how heavy the sheets are. If they are bigger then they are getting more. You friend in Rayong is probably doing a very good job of managing his 6 rai and is getting a kg or so more than the inlaws. Would be fun to see some plantations and trade minds a bit.

Thanks everyone.

Some good informative posts and more homework for me to do. I was talking kg of rubber per day. My sister in law was bring in 18 per 21 mats per day for 7 rai. They said they were 1 kg mats. I will check on that when I go down next. The bother in law was bringing in 48 mats for 15 rai and said he didn't tap all the trees. I am not sure how much they fertilize and how often they tap. I thought it was 3 days then rest a day, but last time we were down they were talking about tapping one day in three which seemed light. Will find out more. The 3 kg per day per rai is a hard number and varies a bit. You are right Joe in the south there are a lot less tapping days and it may equal out over a year with Issan. There are ways of tapping in the rain, but people are not interested. Like the time off I think. They make good money as the land was not purchased, just use on some type of government deal.

I'm a bit confused here. Most of the people talk about getting a kilogram per rai per day in Issan and the people I know on the southern coast are getting between three and four rai per rai per day. Are you saying you should get five kg per day per rai in Issan or five kg per rai per week.

Making the latex sheets isn't hard if you have the right equipment. Some pans and a roller and chemicals. It is just labour intensive. Surely you can find someone to observe. The processed sheets are then dried and hauled to a buyer. Just stack them in back of a pickup and haul. There should be buyers in ST. The whole process require some skill and knowledge and shouldn't be a problem to do it yourself if in reasonable shape, but is fairly labor intensive and that is why a lot of people subcontract it for 40 - 50% Always be aware that someone is itching to steal your rubber and equipment.

Thanks Bud

for the information. It puts it more into perspective. I am talking mostly about the south which is a lot more productive, but maybe less so if you have a drip system. You should make sure it is applicable for your situation with a proper return on investment. I still am not too sure about the drying out of the rubber on the tree. There are others in Issan that grow rubber. I would think on the flats facing the wind would be less than a hillside facing the wind for. He might have a point if the area is open. I keep forgetting there are areas in this world without mountains and forests. Since you are on the flats, find out where the main wind flow comes from and plant something like the tea intercrop that I mentioned in the preceeding post to serve as a wind buffer for about twenty to fifty meters. You could plant bamboo if that seems to be the best crop. There are a lot of things you can plant on the peremeter to cut down the wind. I don't know the topography to sense whether there would be a problem with wind shears. There is a farming forum that caters more to the Roi Et people in the General section of the main forum. I am sure some of the people there have planted rubber in the open. I post material here as I want to keep this forum alive until I move south and also talk to people I can meet. I would suggest that you try to contact people in your area, there are some in the farming forum, to see if rubber is the best crop. There are certainly less headaches. Review what you want to do.