Farmers participation on dipterocarp tree planting in smallholder rubber plantation

Abstract

Introduction of rubber trees in Sumatra in early 1990's has transformed Sumatran landscape since many years ago. In Jambi, rubber trees are commonly planted and managed traditionally in agroforestry systems, which create heterogeneous vegetation but low latex productivity. Nowadays, rubber farmers have started to adopt technology on using good quality of rubber clone and managed their rubber intensively to increase rubber latex productivity. On the other hand, the more intensive rubber management, the less diverse the biological diversity. Enrichment planting in smallholder rubber plantation improved the diversity. Our study in Jambi showed that farmers had less interest on planting forest tree species, such as dipterocarp trees, mainly due to high price of good quality of seedlings and less experience on planting forest tree species. Planting Shorea trees in smallholder rubber plantation showed that Shorea sppgrew better in open area in one year old rubber plantation, compared with more than 10 years old rubber plantation. Light competition between dipterocarp trees and rubber trees can be minimized through wider space planting. Application of ectomycorrhizal inoculums for Shorea seedlings resulted better performance on early growth in nursery stage, however, less impact for Shorea growth after transplanted to the field. Successfulness of Shorea trees planting in smallholder rubber plantation in Jambi with farmers' participation is discussed in this paper