More farmers in the Central Sulawesi province in Indonesia have started growing rubber trees in the area after the Forestry Agency in the economic potential offered by rubber trees.
Agency data showed that rubber plantations in Central Sulawesi have expanded. The provincial administration also estimates that rubber will become a prime commodity as farmers start to grow rubber trees each year. Based on Sulawesi Regional Development Agency (BRPRS) data, rubber plantations in Central Sulawesi currently cover 6,520 hectares with an annual production volume of 7,216 tonnes of latex.
According to Forestry Agency head Nahardi, there were around 30,000 rubber trees currently being tapped in Malonas village, Donggala regency. According to Nahardi, the Forestry Agency promotes rubber plantations because of their high economic value and for the sake of forestry cover. Regarding latex prices, he said the latex market never slowed down due to consistent demand.
“In Central Sulawesi, buyers mostly go directly to farmers, thus facilitating farmers in selling their products,” he said.Nahardi expressed the hope that more farmers would plant rubber because rubber plantations could also be used for other crops, especially side crops.
Nahardi said persuasion was needed to urge people to grow rubber trees because generally the people in Central Sulawesi were unfamiliar with the plant. “Initially, it was difficult to encourage them. Some villages even refused to grow rubber. However, after neighbouring villages achieved success, then they were aware of it,” he said.
However, a different story has occurred in North Morowali. A resident said rubber prices continued to drop in the regency.
Presently, rubber farmers sell latex to traders at around Rp6,000 (US$0.46) per kg. Earlier, prices reached up to Rp20,000 per kg. Latex is a prime export commodity for farmers in the Lembo and Lemboraya districts in North Morowali so they have been badly hit by the decline in rubber prices.
A farmer in Lembar village, Lembo district also claimed that the fall in rubber prices has led farmers to become construction workers or oil palm plantation workers with daily incomes of around Rp70,000. Some farmers, he said, have begun to cultivate rice fields and started to grow cocoa and cloves.