New extraction technology offers higher productivity with lower dependence on skilled labour
KUCHING: A new rubber extraction technology that could triple latex production may offer Sarawak’s nearly 98,000 RISDA smallholders a significant productivity lift.
The bigger test will be whether smallholders can produce each kilogramme of latex more cheaply, reduce their dependence on labour and recover the cost of adopting the technology within a reasonable period.
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Sarawak agricultural economist Dr Anita Rosli told Sarawak Tribune that the potential threefold increase in production should therefore be assessed against net profit rather than output alone.
“The most meaningful measure is the increase in net profit after accounting for all costs.
“We do not merely want ‘more latex per tree’, but ‘more profit per hectare’,” said the senior lecturer at the Department of Social Sciences and Management, Faculty of Humanities, Management and Science.
Known as the Punching method, the technology jointly developed by the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (RISDA) and Malaysian Rubber Board (LGM) uses a device embedded in the tree trunk, allowing latex to flow automatically without conventional tapping.
While the method has the potential to increase latex yield by threefold, the projection remains theoretical and actual results would depend on field conditions. Tree health, weather, soil quality and the proper use of fertilisers and pesticides could all affect production, meaning yields may differ substantially between holdings.
Anita said gross income could approach three times its previous level if production tripled and rubber prices remained stable.
But the increase in net income could be considerably smaller once the costs of technology and equipment, collection, maintenance, transportation, agronomic inputs and marketing were taken into account.
“From an economic perspective, we need to examine the profit margin, particularly how much it costs to produce each additional kilogramme of latex,” she said.
With agricultural input prices continuing to put pressure on smallholders, she said controlling costs would be critical to determining the commercial viability of the method.
Its strongest economic case could instead come from labour productivity. “If more latex can be produced with less labour and lower operating costs, the production cost per unit will decline.
“This would strengthen smallholders’ resilience against fluctuations in rubber prices,” Anita said.
Reducing reliance on conventional tapping could be particularly valuable for holdings affected by labour shortages or the high cost of employing skilled rubber tappers.
The technology could also provide an economic route to bringing idle rubber land back into production.
Sarawak has nearly 38,000 hectares of abandoned rubber land with rehabilitation potential, but Anita cautioned against assuming that every idle holding would become viable simply because a higher-yield technology was available.
The economics would vary according to the age and condition of the trees, existing productivity, rehabilitation costs, farm size, rubber prices and access to infrastructure such as roads.
Adoption and maintenance costs would also have to be weighed against the additional income generated.
Anita said field trials should therefore go beyond measuring latex output and track net profit, labour savings, production cost per kilogramme and the investment payback period.
“If the technology can produce more latex, reduce labour use, lower the production cost per kilogramme and allow the investment to be recovered within a reasonable period, only then can we say that Punching is genuinely worthwhile for smallholders,” she said.
If those conditions are met, she said the method could both strengthen smallholder incomes and help return underproductive or abandoned rubber land to economically viable use.
