ComVal rubber plantations to expand
By PAUL ICAMINA
April 26, 2018
Compostela Valley is ideal for planting rubber.
Comval for short, it used to be part of Davao del Norte until 1998 when it became a province. With a total area of 4,479.77 square kilometers, the province borders Davao del Norte to the west, Agusan del Sur to the north, Davao Oriental to the east and Davao Gulf to the southwest.
It is rich in rice, coconut, cacao, coffee, papaya, mango, pineapple, durian, banana, gold and now, rubber.
A third of Compostela Valley has a high potential for planting rubber, according to a study conducted by the Institute of Renewable and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños.
Zamboanga Sibugay currently has 66,484 hectares of plantation farms, the largest area planted with rubber. It is followed by North Cotabato with 59,387 hectares, according to the study funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
DOST’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) recently teamed up with government and private groups to push for the optimal use of old rubber wood trees in Zamboanga Sibugay. FPRDI’s three-year, P57-million initiative is funded by DOST’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development.
Senile rubber wood trees are currently used for making low-value products such as fuelwood, pallets and crates. In Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, however, the material is made into higher value items for housewares, housing components and composite boards.
With 210 hectares of old rubber wood trees, plantations of the Tambanan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative are expected to yield 31,500 cubic meters of valuable lumber.
The Philippine Statistics Authority estimates that rubber production grew by 8.9 percent from October to December last year.
The growth in production was due to an increase in the number of tappable trees and more tapping activities due to the high price and adequate rainfall in SOCCSKSARGEN (North Cotabato); more tapping activities due to less rainfall compared last year in Caraga (Agusan Sur); and an increase in tapping activities due to more productive trees in Davao Sur, Davao City and Compostela Valley.
The top-producing region during the period is Zamboanga Peninsula, accounting for 42.7 percent of the total rubber production of the country. SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato, Cotabato City, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City) came in close with 41.8 percent contribution while the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had 6.7 percent share in the national production.
According to the ARMM Regional Board of Investments, rubber planters in the Philippines are predominantly smallholders. It estimates that a farmer owns an average of three to 10 hectares of rubber farm.
About 70 percent of rubber produced in the country is absorbed by the tire and footwear industries.
Rubber grows best at tropical places with temperatures ranging from 20-28° Celsius and a well-distributed annual rainfall. It grows on almost all types of soil provided that the drainage is adequate.
Mature rubber trees are usually 20 meters to 30 meters high. Depending on local conditions, the rubber would usually take five to six years to reach maturity when tappers could start collecting the latex or the milky sap. The yield is around 1 ton per hectare per year to almost 2 t/ha/year dry rubber.
The Philippines isconsidered a minor player in rubber production in Southeast Asia and in the the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC). Among the ANRPC, the Philippines ranks 8th in terms of natural rubber production, behind Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, China and Sri Lanka, from 2006 to 2011.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Philippines produced 200,000 metric tons of rubber in 2015. Approximately, 80 percent of productions are processed for the domestic end-users and 20 percent are exported to foreign rubber companies for high-grade processing.
Comval for short, it used to be part of Davao del Norte until 1998 when it became a province. With a total area of 4,479.77 square kilometers, the province borders Davao del Norte to the west, Agusan del Sur to the north, Davao Oriental to the east and Davao Gulf to the southwest.
It is rich in rice, coconut, cacao, coffee, papaya, mango, pineapple, durian, banana, gold and now, rubber.
A third of Compostela Valley has a high potential for planting rubber, according to a study conducted by the Institute of Renewable and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños.
Zamboanga Sibugay currently has 66,484 hectares of plantation farms, the largest area planted with rubber. It is followed by North Cotabato with 59,387 hectares, according to the study funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
DOST’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute (FPRDI) recently teamed up with government and private groups to push for the optimal use of old rubber wood trees in Zamboanga Sibugay. FPRDI’s three-year, P57-million initiative is funded by DOST’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development.
Senile rubber wood trees are currently used for making low-value products such as fuelwood, pallets and crates. In Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, however, the material is made into higher value items for housewares, housing components and composite boards.
With 210 hectares of old rubber wood trees, plantations of the Tambanan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperative are expected to yield 31,500 cubic meters of valuable lumber.
The Philippine Statistics Authority estimates that rubber production grew by 8.9 percent from October to December last year.
The growth in production was due to an increase in the number of tappable trees and more tapping activities due to the high price and adequate rainfall in SOCCSKSARGEN (North Cotabato); more tapping activities due to less rainfall compared last year in Caraga (Agusan Sur); and an increase in tapping activities due to more productive trees in Davao Sur, Davao City and Compostela Valley.
The top-producing region during the period is Zamboanga Peninsula, accounting for 42.7 percent of the total rubber production of the country. SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato, Cotabato City, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City) came in close with 41.8 percent contribution while the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had 6.7 percent share in the national production.
According to the ARMM Regional Board of Investments, rubber planters in the Philippines are predominantly smallholders. It estimates that a farmer owns an average of three to 10 hectares of rubber farm.
About 70 percent of rubber produced in the country is absorbed by the tire and footwear industries.
Rubber grows best at tropical places with temperatures ranging from 20-28° Celsius and a well-distributed annual rainfall. It grows on almost all types of soil provided that the drainage is adequate.
Mature rubber trees are usually 20 meters to 30 meters high. Depending on local conditions, the rubber would usually take five to six years to reach maturity when tappers could start collecting the latex or the milky sap. The yield is around 1 ton per hectare per year to almost 2 t/ha/year dry rubber.
The Philippines isconsidered a minor player in rubber production in Southeast Asia and in the the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC). Among the ANRPC, the Philippines ranks 8th in terms of natural rubber production, behind Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, China and Sri Lanka, from 2006 to 2011.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Philippines produced 200,000 metric tons of rubber in 2015. Approximately, 80 percent of productions are processed for the domestic end-users and 20 percent are exported to foreign rubber companies for high-grade processing.
