Puncture Way to Tap Rubber

Smallholders will be able to tap more trees per day when the Rubber Research Institute commercialises a new tapping toll in a year's time. The new tool, which breaks away from the traditional tapping knife, employs the puncture method to stimulate the flow of latex from the trees. Called the rotor injector, it is light to handle and is operated by four penlight batteries.

The RRI's smallholders Project Research Division head said that the toll was still in the development stage.

"It would be marketed on a commercial scale in about a year's time," he said when demonstrating the use of the tool for the first time at the RBI research station. "He said the tool was meant for use by smallholders facing an acute shortage of labour. They would be able to tap about 800-900 trees a day with the new tool, compared to the present 550.

The tool is estimated to cost about $35 to $40 each when sold on a commercial scale. The head of the Division further added that tapping with the tool would be effortless and would not require any skill. This would be the answer to the labour shortage experienced by the rubber industry, particularly in smallholdings.

At present there are about 130,000 tappers employed in rubber estates and a substantial number in small holdings. When the new system of tapping is introduced, it will have a grave impact on the employment situation in Malaysia with many rubber tappers made redundant. (ref. N.S.T 11.2.79)