Keywords :

Participative research to support the development of smallholder natural rubber plantations

Tree crops, and especially smallholder plantations, which account for over 80% of the natural rubber growing area, have a key role for development and sustainable reduction of poverty, which is especially high in rural areas. Research and extension are essential for improving soil productivity and labour conditions on family farms. After an assessment phase, on-farm experiments are set up with the aim of developing and testing, in collaboration with farmers, agroeconomically efficient technical production systems that are adapted to different settings. These experiments enable quantification of productivity increases achieved and evaluation of the adoption of these systems. In smallholder natural rubber growing, the Performance of Tree Crop-Based Systems (PSCPP) internal research unit (UPR) is involved in the development of two on-farm trial networks in Ghana and Thailand, with the aim of improving the cropping systems. In Ghana, the different proposed crop management sequences are focused on the choice of plant material (clones), its nursery production, fertilizer formulations, maintenance methods, crop associations, tapping and stimulation frequencies tailored to the plant material and environmental conditions. In Thailand, an innovative tapping technique (Double Cut Alternative) is being tested. The initial results showed an increase in plantation productivity as compared to the reference system used by growers. The unit is striving to gain further insight into farmers’ strategies and to provide them with better advice by assessing, in a broad range of different socioeconomic and agroecological settings, the performances of existing or innovative cropping systems. The Olympe software package, tailored by CIRAD to the specificities of tropical plantation agriculture, can be used to simulate the functioning of these systems and to determine their potentials. A database management system gateway is being designed for this software.