Production, processing, and marketing of rubber in Laguna Province, Philippines

Issue Date

4-2014

Abstract

The province of Laguna, Philippines is a new player in the rubber industry; hence this study on production, processing, and marketing of rubber in the province. Key actors in the production-marketing continuum were identified as well as the facilitating and limiting factors of the business were determined. Respondents to the key informant interviews were rubber farmers, including tappers and caretakers of rubber farms, who supply cuplumps to Rubberfields Inc., the lone latex processing plant in Laguna. Staff members and technicians from Rubberfields Inc. and representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Regional IV-A office were interviewed. Primary and secondary data were analyzed using thematic categories and descriptive statistics. There are 124.30 ha rubber farms distributed across 11 towns, with 53 farmer-stakeholders in the province. Agroforestry is the most common production scheme, where rubber is intercropped with various fruit-bearing trees. Most farmers used 70% unbudded and the remaining 30% were budded seedlings of RRIM 600, PB 235, PB 260, PB 311, PB 330, and USM 1 varieties. Most farmers employed 3m × 3m spacing, while the age of rubber trees ranged from 2 to 14 years. On average, farms produced 405 kg of latex per month. Production and marketing agreements between farmers and Rubberfields Inc. determined profit sharing. Rubberfields Inc. provides a regular marketing channel for the Laguna-based rubber farmers but there are other buyers who seasonally trade in the province. The pricing in Laguna largely depends on movement of latex prices in Mindanao. The province’s rubber agribusiness system has five sub-systems that open possibilities for expansion and improved contribution to the provincial economy while becoming more acceptable to farmers as they were already profiting from it. The estimated household’s annual net income from a 1.5-ha rubber-based farm is PhP 161,264.64.

ISSN

2012-3612

Volume

4

Issue

2

Page

38-53

Document Type

Article

Physical Description

illustrations; tables

Language

English

Subject

Rubber; Rubber production; Laguna, Pjilippines

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