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].
Transfer of improved rubbe technology to smallholders. Cooperative role in technology application on rubber plantations in Indonesia. Implementation ISO 9000 series towards rubber smallholders. The paths of technology flow from research to end-users. Technology transfer for smallholders in Northeast Thailand. What and how of rubber technology transfer for smallholders. Adoption of rubber cultivation technology by rubber smallholders in South Sumatra, Indonesia. The mechanics of technology transfer to the smallholders sector in Malaysia. Economic evaluation of technologies for smallholders: methodology and examples. Marketing channel for smallholder rubber in Peninsular Malaysia. Characteristics of smallholder extension workers and their training needs in Indonesia's Jambi Province. Economic status of the natural rubber industry in China.
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].
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.
The first concerted critical examination of the uses and abuses of indigenous knowledge. The contributors focus on a series of interrelated issues in their interrogation of indigenous knowledge and its specific applications within the localised contexts of particular Asian societies and regional cultures. In particular they explore the problems of translation and mistranslation in the local-global transference of traditional practices and representations of resources.
Agribusiness development has been constrained by distorted economic policies and institutional controls in the emerging market economies and in most of the developing countries. In the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the agribusiness complex was dominated by state-owned enter prises. In many of the developing countries, economic policies discriminated against agriculture and agribusiness. The results have been obvious. Despite major technological advances, agriculture and agribusiness sectors in these economies remained inefficient. A large share of the population, particu larly in the rural areas, has not been able to improve household incomes and living standards. The final decade of the 20th century will certainly be recorded as one of the most dynamic in modem history. The restructuring of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and market reforms in many of the developing countries are progressing at a rapid pace. Agribusiness is key to economic perfor mance in these areas in that agriculture is an important sector in many of these economies. Economic transition to a market economy is presenting many challenges and opportunities to accelerate the process of agribusiness development, which is so essential to alleviate rural poverty. An international symposium, organized by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), provided a unique opportunity to discuss needed policy reforms to promote efficient and competitive agribusiness develop ment, with a particular focus on privatization and deregulation.
