• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.75-89
• /
• 2022

The negative impact of monoculture rubber plantations on biodiversity and associated ecological processes/ecosystem services has led to suggestions on the use of integrated land use systems for rubber cultivation and production in order to ensure environmental sustainability. However, there is paucity of information on the effect of such integrated land use systems on the diversity and abundance of the rubber plantation undergrowth. We evaluated and compared undergrowth plant species composition, richness, abundance, diversity and interaction, in three integrated systems (Rubber-Strelitzia reginae Integrated System - RSrIS, Rubber-Podocarpus nagi Integrated System - RPnIS & Naturally Managed Rubber Plantation - NMRP) with three Rubber Monoculture Plantations (RMP₁, RMP₂ & RMP₃) adjacent to the integrated systems, respectively, at the Investigation and Experiment Station of Tropical Crops, Danzhou, Hainan, China. Undergrowth species density was higher in the rubber monocultures than in the integrated systems except in RSrIS. Species richness and diversity were also higher in the monocultures except in NMRP. Species similarity/interaction between the monocultures and the integrated systems was highest between RMP₃ and NMRP. The NRMP proved to be the best model of natural rubber integrated system for the conservation of undergrowth species richness, diversity and interspecific interaction. However, the conservation of undergrowth species in other forms of integrated natural systems can be enhanced by considering the ecology of species to be integrated in terms of their growth characteristics, competitive nature, and ability to grow in association with other species.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
• /
• 2003.11a
• /
• pp.970-972
• /
• 2003

Due to rapid increase in the demand of Natural Rubber (NR) few years ago, NR price sore very higher. The rubber plantation in Thailand expanded very fast to non traditional areas with the result Thai become the biggest NR exporting country in the world. However, the average yield is still lower compared to experimental yield of RRIT (Rubber Research Institute of Thailand) or just 60 % (RRIT, 1998). This is due to many of new rubber planting areas, which are not suitable. The Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives thus has set 'The complete cycle development strategies for natural rubber' in the medium-term measures by reducing the rubber planting areas by 300,000 rai (1 rai = 0.16ha) through replanting with oil palm. The aim of this study is to find out land having lowest potential for rubber production (R3) but highest for oil palm production (P1). Find areas which are unsuitable for rubber and can be replaced by oil palm in order to get a better agricultural production. The study was applied upon Krabi province, Thailand. Crops requirement, degree of limitation to crops growth, climatic data, crops yield, soil map, topographic map etc., were used to evaluate land potential for both rubber and oil palm production according to FAO framework (Sys, 1992). An Agro-ecological suitability map for rubber and oil palm were produced. This was done by mean of GIS. The database was generated and guide map for the decision makers in view of suitable crop substitution was prepared.

• Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.56-64
• /
• 2019

Planting intercropping in rubber plantations is another alternative for generating more income for farmers. However, farmers still lack the knowledge of choosing plants. In addition, information for decision making comes from many sources and is knowledge accumulated by the expert. Therefore, this research aims to create a decision support system for growing rubber trees for individual farmers. It aims to get the highest income and the lowest cost by using semantic web technology so that farmers can access knowledge at all times and reduce the risk of growing crops, and also support the decision supporting system (DSS) to be more intelligent. The integrated intercropping ontology and rule are a part of the decision-making process for selecting plants that is suitable for individual rubber plots. A list of suitable plants is important for decision variables in the allocation of planting areas for each type of plant for multiple purposes. This article presents designing and developing the intercropping ontology for DSS which defines a class based on the principle of intercropping in rubber plantations. It is grouped according to the characteristics and condition of the area of the farmer as a concept of the rubber plantation. It consists of the age of rubber tree, spacing between rows of rubber trees, and water sources for use in agriculture and soil group, including slope, drainage, depth of soil, etc. The use of ontology for recommended plants suitable for individual farmers makes a contribution to the knowledge management field. Besides being useful in DSS by offering options with accuracy, it also reduces the complexity of the problem by reducing decision variables and condition variables in the multi-objective optimization model of DSS.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.7 no.12
• /
• pp.423-431
• /
• 2020

This study examines the cost and benefit (i.e., income) of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) rubber plantations in Thailand. The study attempts to identify the challenges to the implementation of FSC standards in rubber plantations in the country. A total of 60 rubber farmers in two Southern provinces, namely, Songkhla and Rayong, were interviewed through a standardized questionnaire to gather primary data. The study found that small-, medium- and large-sized FSC rubber plantations were worth investing in. All sizes of rubber plantations had similar values of benefit cost ratio (BCR). It was also found that the values of the discount payback period (DPP) of the three forms of FSC rubber plantations were 9-12 years, while the large rubber plantations had the highest internal rate of return (IRR) (19.0%). It implies that the large-size plantations had the highest values. The rubber farmers in the study area reported that they are facing a number of problems and hardships in implementing FSC standards, lacking knowledge and understanding of FSC, especially for preparing documentation. Therefore, the Thai government should take proper policy initiatives to remove all the problems and barriers in implementing FSC standards for the sustainable rubber production in the country.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.307-308
• /
• 2007

This work shows the experimental results obtained from ageing at a temperature of 100 C for 48, 70 and 312 h, although the application of AC electrical tension in samples and the measuring of current leakage are presented. The measurements in samples were carried out with samples prepared from the deformulated commercial materials and respectively reformulated into thin films. The obtained results showed the mechanisms of conduction of samples in low and high electric fields. It was also identified an electric tension transition showing that in low fields it prevails the Ohm's law conduction, and in high electric fields it prevails the conduction of space charge limited current (SCLC). These results can support the natural rubber formulation process having as their main objective the reducing of the mechanisms that occur under high conduction current in high electric fields, which leads the material to a dielectric breakdown. Raw Natural rubber in Brazil is extracted from rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis) in farms in So Paulo State by using some new plantation technology in smaller spaces, with trees placed a few meters from each other. In the Amazon rain forest the rubber trees are found naturally and their spacing may be of hundreds of meters or even kilometers between them. It is necessary to research this raw material from different internationally standard clones to characterize dielectric and electric properties for industrial applications. Moreover, this natural material has a low commercial price when compared to the synthetic ones.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
• /
• 2007.10a
• /
• pp.471-474
• /
• 2007

Eucalyptus plantations play a major role in the China's ecological, social, economic and other aspects and presently China is the second largest producer of Eucalyptus in the world next to Brazil. It was introduced as an ornamental tree during 1890 but later it became a commercial crop. During 1960s large number of Eucalyptus timber were used for railway sleepers and it was also used as shelter belt for rubber trees. It becomes one of the important national resources of commercial timber once the production reached to 5 million $m^{3}/yr$. Through Eucalyptus oil, it brought about 20% of foreign exchange. In the present study, it was aimed to estimate the Eucalyptus growing area in the southern Guangdong in China in terms of aerial extent and changes between 1991 and 2001 using Landsat TM and ETM+ data. Object based classification technique and subsequent temporal change detection analysis were followed to identify the changes between the periods. In the present study, the total area was divided into three classes viz., plantation area with trees, plantation area without trees and others. Object oriented classification was found to be more accurate in the present study. Overall increase of about 23.62 $km^{2}$ was noted between 1991 and 2001 in the plantation area. With reference to the present study area, the growth of Eucalyptus growing area was 7.4% in the 10 year periods. From this study it is clear that the area under Eucalyptus cultivation is growing considerably year by year in China. However, elaborate study must be conducted considering larger areas to accurately predict the growth of Eucalyptus growing areas.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.10-16
• /
• 2013

Hevea brasiliensis is a natural source of rubber and an important plantation tree species in Malaysia. Leaf blight disease caused by Fusicoccum substantially reduces the growth and performance of H. brasiliensis. The aim of this study was to use a combination of both morphological characteristics and molecular data to clarify the taxonomic position of the fungus associated with leaf blight disease. Fusicoccum species were isolated from infected leaves collected from plantations at 3 widely separated locations - Selangor, Perak, and Johor states - in Peninsular Malaysia in 2010. All the isolates were identified according to their conidial patterns and DNA sequences generated from internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2), the 5.8S rRNA, and an unknown locus (BotF15) containing microsatellite repeats. Based on taxonomic and sequence data, Neofusicoccum ribis was identified as the main cause of leaf blight disease in H. brasiliensis in commercial plantations in Malaysia. A pathogenicity trial on detached leaves further confirmed that N. ribis causes leaf blight disease. N. ribis is an important leaf pathogen, and its detection in Malaysia has important implications for future planting of H. brasiliensis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.293-297
• /
• 1997

Studies were designed to study the peri-parturient rise in strongyle faecal egg counts (FEC) in ewes grazing in a rubber plantation in North Sumatra, Indonesia. In three consecutive lambing seasons strongyle FEC of peri-parturient ewes and dry ewes were monitored from 2 to 3 weeks before lambing until 7 to 9 weeks post lambing to measure the magnitude and duration of the peri-parturient rise. A significant rise in FEC was observed during the post-parturient period in two of the three studies. FEC increased in the three studies from lambing day, and were elevated until 5 to 9 weeks following lambing. Lactating ewes shed on average 3 times more eggs than dry ewes. Lactating ewes were therefore considered as an important source of pasture infection. These findings are discussed in relation to the epidemiology and control of gastrointestinal nematodes in the humid tropics.