Rubber Trees

[sezzo]

Thinking about growing rubber in Ubon Ratchathani,anyone out there doing so successfully?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My wife and I have a newly planted rubber plantation in north Ubon so cannot tell you from personal experience if it is successful yet. However in my travels around Ubon I have seen quite a few mature plantation and all look healthy. A family from our village have a small rubber plantation about 100 ks from here and apparently it is producing well. I will be doing a visit out there in the near future and will be getting some information. Will post here the results.

Where abouts in Ubon are you thinking of growing.

[aletta]

My wife and I have a newly planted rubber plantation in north Ubon

Friend Jerry in Ubon has 11 rai and only watered when it rains.What is your experience with watering and growth rates.

[sezzo]

My wife and I have a newly planted rubber plantation in north Ubon

Friend Jerry in Ubon has 11 rai and only watered when it rains.What is your experience with watering and growth rates.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Because our trees were planted as bare rootstock (as opposed to develeoped seedlings) and towards the end of the last rainy season they are only about 18 in to 2 ft tall but in healthy condition. We were hand watering fortnightly until the dam ran dry about 3 months ago, but despite that they are still looking good. The couple of days rain in the last month or so have certainly made them more healthier. I expect them to boom during and after the next wet season.

[ray23]

A rural background in mixed farming and fishing taught me that in a new venture in agriculture always double your anticipated costs and halve your anticipated returns .My TW has land in the area east of Udon and after much research I am of the opinion that diversified farming with proper practises and the availability of water is the way to go. Rotational cropping with rice, legumes (beans ) corn,with fish ponds and rice/fish paddy,s.

Labour intensive, yes but this can be kept down with planning and infrastructure.

plus return per rai is higher and more evenly spread.

Not rubber I know but another mans view.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Interestingly enough it is not just your view, it's the Kings view as well. His view is based on years of research at his eperimental farms. The theory is that the average Thia family consists of six people and the average Thia farm is 15 Ria, he has speciific formula designed for the land usage. It seems to be based on cerrtain crops that will provide food for the family year round and othe aspects meant to produce money. He didn't mention fish farming but did mention a specific size of resevoir to provide itrragtion, I suppose it could provide the fish tanks as well.

What I found interesting was that he alotted 2 ria for the family house of course that was to include chicken production. so you might not be far off. There are probably lots of ways to get the hair off the cat.

I watched a program on it on channel 93 (UBC) I plan on checking more carfully later.

I also assume that meant the family doing the work on the farm, that I will not apply for a work permit for. LAUGHTER retired is retired

[aletta]

Love the idea of a mixed farm but not enough males in the family to do the heavy work.

[aletta]

There would appear to be quite a large plantation for sale in Nong Khai at approx 50,000 per rai:

Rubber plantation for sale

Edited August 18, 2005 by aletta

[phibunmike]

I haven't checked all th previous links given in this thread, so I apologise in advance if this is duplicating information already given elsewhere.

However I thought all you budding rubber-tappers might find this link interesting, particularly those considering planting a new rubber plantation:

http://www.fftc.agnet.org/library/article/pt2003018.html

[phibunmike]

- and for those interested in inter-cropping with rubber, here is some useful information:

http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/7813/seri.htm

[Diggerbasher]

Locals here grow pineapple between the rows of trees.

[aletta]

Read an interesting article that stated that many of the sapplings given to farmers in the Northeast will be very low yielding as the buds were taken from the trunk of the parent tree and not a branch.Not an expert but worth knowing for those taking the plunge into rubber.Maybe there is a test or a visible sign.

[chownah]

Read an interesting article that stated that many of the sapplings given to farmers in the Northeast will be very low yielding as the buds were taken from the trunk of the parent tree and not a branch.Not an expert but worth knowing for those taking the plunge into rubber.Maybe there is a test or a visible sign.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know anything about rubber trees. Anyone know where I can learn about this bud thing....it sounds kind of fishy to me....to me it sounds like something a farmer could say when his crop isn't as productive as he'd been bragging about.

[sezzo]

Sounds a bit suss

Im no expert either but I know that the trees that we have bought have been grown from seed. They are grown to a certain size then cut about 6 in above the ground. They then have a small section of bark taken off and this area is then wrapped in plastic. This area is where the new shoot will grow from. This forms the new trunk for the tree and also makes the tree productive.

Maybe the article may have meant that the trees have been grown directly from seed and not cut and treated as described above.

We bought all our trees through a supplier down at Surat Thani and brought them up as bare root stock to Ubon, put them in plastic tubes, watered them till they took off, then replanted them in the ground. They are now booming with the latest wet season and some good fertilizing.

[chownah]

Sezzo,

Your last post reminds me of how grafted trees are done....the only thing different than what you have described is that when the seedling is cut you should place a bud from a different variety of rubber tree onto the place where you stripped off the bark from the seedling....more or less. This is called bud grafting I think. In the northern US they do this often with fruit trees. You grow up a seedling from a variety which can live through a cold winter. These cold resistant seedlings either don't produce fruit or it is defective in some way so you graft a bud onto the stem and the bud produces the branches and the fruit will be the same as the plant that the bud came from which can be a good quality fruit.......this way you get a tree that is winter hardy and bears quality fruit. If this is what is done with rubber trees then the bud thing makes more sense. If the trunk of the rubber tree is one kind and the branches are from another kind and made by grafting then if you take a bud from the trunk of the rubber tree it won't grow into the kind of branches you want......I don't know if this is true or not...I'd be interested in finding out though.

Chownah

[aletta]

chownah,i believe it was a Bangkok Post article so maybe searching their archives will yield results.

As i remember the company contracted to produce the millions of saplings was short of branch buds and was facing penalties if trees delivered late.

Edited August 22, 2005 by aletta

[chownah]

chownah,i believe it was a Bangkok Post article so maybe searching their archives  will yield results.

As i remember the company contracted to produce the millions of saplings was short of branch buds and was facing penalties if trees delivered late.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks for the tip, I'll go check it out.

[ozzydom]

Sounds a bit suss

Im no expert either but I know that the trees that we have bought have been grown from seed.  They are grown to a certain size then cut about 6 in above the ground.  They then have a small section of bark taken off and this area is then wrapped in plastic.  This area is where the new shoot will grow from.  This forms the new trunk for the tree and also makes the tree productive.

Maybe the article may have meant that the trees have been grown directly from seed and not cut and treated as described above. 

We bought all our trees through a supplier down at Surat Thani and brought them up as bare root stock to Ubon, put them in plastic tubes, watered them till they took off, then replanted them in the ground.  They are now booming with the latest wet season and some good fertilizing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The trees are grown from seed because it is the easiest way to propogate them, but because of cross pollination they probably wont grow true to type ,so thetrunk in this case is cut off and a selected bud or buds is grafted on, this then grows true to type of the bud donor tree. Its a very easy process and also interesting as a hobby especially with fruit trees (of the same genus usually) we used to have apple trees with up to 10 varieties on one tree and even 2 varieties on one limb.

[jamescollister]

Found another good Sri Lankan rubber web site which talks about man hours per hectare on a plantation:-

A rubber estate with a yield of 1000 kg/ha would require approximately 147 mandays/ha for tapping out of the total number of 208 mandays required for the entire operation which amounts to 71%. Labour accounts for about 40% of the total cost of production of rubber. About 70% of the worker's time is spent on harvesting (tapping and collection of latex).

On your plot that equates to 208/6.25*21*250=174720 baht labour(assuming daily wage of 250 baht)

Plantation labour costs

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Perhaps that is why a 50/50 split is used, simplier approach, but I have also heard that I was misled a bit and the actual split is 60/40,60 to the owner

[jamescollister]

I have been reading this rubber tree topic for awhile now and cann't believe some of the dis information that goes round. One rubber tree in Issan produces on average 1 kilo per month for 8 to 9 months per year. ( 90 baht per kilo} The trees are geneticaly modified for the area and are supposedly able to produce 1.5 kilos per month if they are taken care of propperly. 80 trees per rai, so a rubber out put of 80 kilos per month, thus 7200 baht of rubber per month. 50% runing cost. Thus a profit of 3600 baht per rai per month.

I have 7000 trees in the ground and have worked closely with the local advisers[Government] and hopefully will start tapping in the next few years. Anyone thinking of going in to this business should be very carefull as it my seem cheap and easy to do, but there are alot of costs and pit falls awaiting the unwary.

JIM det udom

[ray23]

No doubt at all, the reality is never a tastey as the dream

[donx]

I have been reading this rubber tree topic for awhile now and cann't believe some of the dis information that goes round. One rubber tree in Issan produces on average 1 kilo per month for 8 to 9 months per year. ( 90 baht per kilo} The trees are geneticaly modified for the area and are supposedly able to produce 1.5 kilos per month if they are taken care of propperly. 80 trees per rai, so a rubber out put of 80 kilos per month, thus 7200 baht of rubber per month. 50% runing cost. Thus a profit of 3600 baht per rai per month.

I have 7000 trees in the ground and have worked closely with the local advisers[Government] and hopefully will start tapping in the next few years. Anyone thinking of going in to this business should be very carefull as it my seem cheap and easy to do, but there are alot of costs and pit falls awaiting the unwary.

JIM det udom

I would say your numbers appear to be way more optimistic than what my wife is reporting as output from her 17 rai of rubber trees in Southern Thailand. I will have to admit that I have a very hard time getting her to give me accurate numbers, but from what I am hearing, the yeild per rai is somewhere between 20 to 30 kg. Recently, the person working the land is my sister-in-law's husband. I have been told that current prices for liquid latex are less than for dried rubber but are somewhere around 90 baht/kg. The arrangement we have with whomever harvests the rubber is that my wife gets 40% and they get 60%. We have this arrangement because the land with the rubber is difficult to work being that it is on very mountaineous terrain. As most already know, you can't harvest every day because of weather conditions and yeilds vary by season. I was told that each day during this season that rubber is collected, my mother-in-law receives 700 baht. Thus the total collected for the day is 1750 baht (40% is 700 baht and 60% is 1050 baht). This is collected from 17 rai and I am guessing that on average 17 days a month rubber is collected. That means that 17 days * 1750 baht = 29,750 baht/month total of which my wife and her mother get 11,900 baht/month.

These figures are lower than figures I reported in a thread in the Southern Thai forum on rubber trees and palm oil. I have also been told that good yeilds depend upon the trees being well maintained and that the previous land owner did not do this well at all. Next year my wife will have an additional 19 rai ready to produce rubber. I'm looking forward to visiting these lands next summer when we return to Thailand and seeing for myself how things are going.

Edited July 10, 2006 by donx

[Issangeorge]

I have been reading this rubber tree topic for awhile now and cann't believe some of the dis information that goes round. One rubber tree in Issan produces on average 1 kilo per month for 8 to 9 months per year. ( 90 baht per kilo} The trees are geneticaly modified for the area and are supposedly able to produce 1.5 kilos per month if they are taken care of propperly. 80 trees per rai, so a rubber out put of 80 kilos per month, thus 7200 baht of rubber per month. 50% runing cost. Thus a profit of 3600 baht per rai per month.

I have 7000 trees in the ground and have worked closely with the local advisers[Government] and hopefully will start tapping in the next few years. Anyone thinking of going in to this business should be very carefull as it my seem cheap and easy to do, but there are alot of costs and pit falls awaiting the unwary.

JIM det udom

I would say your numbers appear to be way more optimistic than what my wife is reporting as output from her 17 rai of rubber trees in Southern Thailand. I will have to admit that I have a very hard time getting her to give me accurate numbers, but from what I am hearing, the yeild per rai is somewhere between 20 to 30 kg. Recently, the person working the land is my sister-in-law's husband. I have been told that current prices for liquid latex are less than for dried rubber but are somewhere around 90 baht/kg. The arrangement we have with whomever harvests the rubber is that my wife gets 40% and they get 60%. We have this arrangement because the land with the rubber is difficult to work being that it is on very mountaineous terrain. As most already know, you can't harvest every day because of weather conditions and yeilds vary by season. I was told that each day during this season that rubber is collected, my mother-in-law receives 700 baht. Thus the total collected for the day is 1750 baht (40% is 700 baht and 60% is 1050 baht). This is collected from 17 rai and I am guessing that on average 17 days a month rubber is collected. That means that 17 days * 1750 baht = 29,750 baht/month total of which my wife and her mother get 11,900 baht/month.

These figures are lower than figures I reported in a thread in the Southern Thai forum on rubber trees and palm oil. I have also been told that good yeilds depend upon the trees being well maintained and that the previous land owner did not do this well at all. Next year my wife will have an additional 19 rai ready to produce rubber. I'm looking forward to visiting these lands next summer when we return to Thailand and seeing for myself how things are going.

Donx, that works out to be about 233 kgs. per rai per year, if you go to this site http://www.oae.go.th/statistic/yearbook/2003/indexe.html and on the left side click on trees and then instead of coffee beans click down to para rubber you can see from the Thai governements own figures the average yield per rai per year in Thailand in 2003 was 286 kgs. So your wife's figures are in the ball park. Issangeorge

Edited July 11, 2006 by Issangeorge

[uli65]

I have been reading this rubber tree topic for awhile now and cann't believe some of the dis information that goes round. One rubber tree in Issan produces on average 1 kilo per month for 8 to 9 months per year. ( 90 baht per kilo} The trees are geneticaly modified for the area and are supposedly able to produce 1.5 kilos per month if they are taken care of propperly. 80 trees per rai, so a rubber out put of 80 kilos per month, thus 7200 baht of rubber per month. 50% runing cost. Thus a profit of 3600 baht per rai per month.

I have 7000 trees in the ground and have worked closely with the local advisers[Government] and hopefully will start tapping in the next few years. Anyone thinking of going in to this business should be very carefull as it my seem cheap and easy to do, but there are alot of costs and pit falls awaiting the unwary.

JIM det udom

I would say your numbers appear to be way more optimistic than what my wife is reporting as output from her 17 rai of rubber trees in Southern Thailand. I will have to admit that I have a very hard time getting her to give me accurate numbers, but from what I am hearing, the yeild per rai is somewhere between 20 to 30 kg. Recently, the person working the land is my sister-in-law's husband. I have been told that current prices for liquid latex are less than for dried rubber but are somewhere around 90 baht/kg. The arrangement we have with whomever harvests the rubber is that my wife gets 40% and they get 60%. We have this arrangement because the land with the rubber is difficult to work being that it is on very mountaineous terrain. As most already know, you can't harvest every day because of weather conditions and yeilds vary by season. I was told that each day during this season that rubber is collected, my mother-in-law receives 700 baht. Thus the total collected for the day is 1750 baht (40% is 700 baht and 60% is 1050 baht). This is collected from 17 rai and I am guessing that on average 17 days a month rubber is collected. That means that 17 days * 1750 baht = 29,750 baht/month total of which my wife and her mother get 11,900 baht/month.

These figures are lower than figures I reported in a thread in the Southern Thai forum on rubber trees and palm oil. I have also been told that good yeilds depend upon the trees being well maintained and that the previous land owner did not do this well at all. Next year my wife will have an additional 19 rai ready to produce rubber. I'm looking forward to visiting these lands next summer when we return to Thailand and seeing for myself how things are going.

[Maizefarmer]

Can money be made from Rubber trees?

In theory yes, in practise - well, thats another question.

Someof the old Chinese families down South have made a fortune from rubber trees (huge plantations) but as a rule, I don't think its ranks high on the get rich list of occupations.

I would have thought that if you have the land to grow small plantation, why not consider getting planing permission to put houses on it - because that will make you a profit. But there agin, I dont know the situation so maybe the sugestion is daft in this instance.

Tim

.........oh, and I should add - I know jack-ass about growing rubber, so maybe my comment is well out of place, but like all ventures in Thailand - never feel you have all the info required to make the correct decision untill you have made the decision, tried it out and experiance the results!

Edited August 7, 2006 by Maizefarmer

[andeet]

Realizing that there is a long period of waiting before you can harvest, after that period is done, what kind of return can be expected per Ria?

What are the up keep costs?

In Issan do they require irrigation or will the rains when and if they come take care of it?

Hello out there,

This is my favourite subject, what has happend with all those people starting planting rubber trees the last 3 - 4 years ?

Me myself have about 30 rais of 3 year old trees doing quite great though they need quite alot of fertelizing and work to keep the grass away.

We are living in Kalasin amphur Don Jaan.

I just wanted to get this topic updated because I want to read and learn more from all you doing "dtawn yaang" out there.

Chook dee na kap

/andeet

[stoneman]

Realizing that there is a long period of waiting before you can harvest, after that period is done, what kind of return can be expected per Ria?

What are the up keep costs?

In Issan do they require irrigation or will the rains when and if they come take care of it?

Hello out there,

This is my favourite subject, what has happend with all those people starting planting rubber trees the last 3 - 4 years ?

Me myself have about 30 rais of 3 year old trees doing quite great though they need quite alot of fertelizing and work to keep the grass away.

We are living in Kalasin amphur Don Jaan.

I just wanted to get this topic updated because I want to read and learn more from all you doing "dtawn yaang" out there.

Chook dee na kap

/andeet

We have 2,000 rubber 7 year old rubber trees west of Nong Khai. We have made the decision that at 50 baht a kg for smoked rubber, it is not worth the effort. So we have decided that, until rubber goes back over 70 baht, we will not cut and tap the trees....We are getting a lot of pressure from locals who want to do the collection for us...But the answer is a Solid NO...

Stoneman

[zzaa09]

Interesting to note, seems as rubber is making a sort of comeback after a 30 year lull. With the development and advent of synthetic plastics. Nonetheless, seems the market throughout SE Asia in on the greatest increase since 10 years now. Some 7-8 years ago, a Thai uncle of mine up near Petchabun with 150 rai, systematically replace a very popular and established pineapple business with all rubber trees. Today, he's making a fortune. Sitting pretty.

[falkan]

an update how are things going with your rubber trees? sold anything?

[jamescollister]

an update how are things going with your rubber trees? sold anything?

Don't understand the question, they don't sell the trees, but the rubber. Jim