The experience gained so far demonstrates that the mini-estate approach can motivate greater participation of the smallholders leading to higher returns. Equally significant is that the group planting schemes give social cohesion to the participating smallholders and provides them with a forum to collectively discuss and determine solutions to their problems. [Author's abstract].
The Rubber Workshop was held primarily to help identify priority problems facing the natural rubber industries of Southeast Asia. The focus was on the processes of structural change which had been occurring in the recent past, especially in the two major producing countries, Malaysia and Indonesia. The roles of research, technology, economic trends and policies were examined, with particular emphasis on their implications for the development of the smallholder rubber sectors. Smallholders now produce the bulk of the world's natural rubber whereas the plantation sectors had this distinction less than 25 years ago.
In essence, conscious of the need for a total development coverage, programmes are created by RISDA so as to be consonant with specific time periods related to the rubber replanting cycle. Specific programmes are created which are respectively consistent with smallholder needs during the time period before replanting is carried out, after replanting is carried out and after the rubber trees have attained maturity status. This paper outlines the various projects and programmes in fair detail and also talks of PROJECT TRIDELTA, a system devised by RISDA as an 'in-house extension management systems' to define smallholder needs and increase extension effectiveness in the transfer of technology to the rubber smallholder sector. [Authors' abstract].
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Indian natural rubber sector has been affected by trends toward trade liberalisation, a reduced role of the State, and organisational reforms. Rubber cultivators in Kerala - around 1 million holders cultivating an average 0.5 ha of rubber plantation - have been affected by these processes in different ways. It is hypothesized that growers - especially the ones located in agro-ecologically marginal rubber areas- are coping with these changes with diversified income-generating strategies. This book suggests a new perspective on these coping processes with the development of a typology of rubber growers based on their income-generating strategies. The book shows that the different types of holdings have specific management strategies and ways of dealing with risks. Furthermore, there is evidence that specific local institutions and organisations can hinder and/or support the income generation of these different types of holdings.
The smallholder sector is a dominant rubber sector in Malaysia occupying the hectarage ratio of 3:1 and produced 79.1% of total production of 1.6 million tonne in 1987. There are some 5000,000 smallholders dependent on their rubber holdings. With the productivity lagging behind the estate sector and the importance of socio-political stability, concerted and co-ordinated effort is needed in transferring the technology. Since 1981, TOT activities have been intensified, hence an attempt to evaluate its effectiveness. [Author's abstract].
