Efforts are on for the inclusion of rubber in agricultural list by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Inter-cropping has been in practice for many years on both smallholdings and estates to maximise incomes, especially during the relatively long period of immaturity. Farmers are hitting it big. After making use of modern rubber planting technology from Malaysia, members of the United Workers Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multipurpose Cooperative (UWARBMC) are currently inter-cropping rubber with coffee and other commodities in order to maximise the productivity of their land. It is well known that some crops harvesting are more suitable than others in particular locations due to local climates, tastes, customs, markets, etc. Crops like upland rice, greengram, soybean, corn, vegetables, banana, pineapple, cassava, castorbean, jute, etc can be grown together with Rubber.

The recommended planting distance for the inter-cropping with rubber depends on the characteristic of inter-crop. Process for this would be to plant smaller crops in the distance of about one meter from rubber rows and two meter for larger crops. At post harvesting period they are recommended to conserve moisture and to improve the soil's physical properties.

In a trial performed during 1981-86, rubber was planted with a spacing of seven metres between rows and three metres between trees within the rows and was then inter-cropped with a legume cover crop mixture including Calopogonium mucunoides, Centrosema pubescent and Pueraria phaseoloides, or with mung beans (Vigna radiata), soybeans, groundnuts, rice, maize, bananas or pineapples. According to a study on cropping systems suitable for young rubber plantations in the southeast region of Vietnam by the Institute of Agricultural Science of South Vietnam revealed followings: 1 Intercropping peanut (Arachishypogaea L) in young rubber plantations is an advantageous technology, suitable for the agro-ecological conditions and the economic situation of farmer.

This new technology resulted in improving the productivity of land, higher farmers income and enhancing soil protection and weed control while maintaining soil fertility in the rubber plantations. 2 Peanut variety HL25 (original Icrisats name - ICGS E 56 - introduced Irri in the Asian Rice Farming Systems Network) was a new peanut variety suitable for inter-cropping with young rubber and other farming systems in SER. 3 Application of inorganic fertiliser (NPK) and lime as well as the spra of foliar fertilisers significantly improved the economic effectiveness of inter-cropping peanut and young rubber. Mixed farming is proved to be successful in International countries but India is lacking behind in terms of latest technology and equipments. The mixed farming system is effective in the context of economic returns and environmental effects, although it varies depending on the crop combinations and market demands as well as geographical locations and terrain.

Production growth rate witnessed a sharp fall in last years, against a growth of 8.4 per cent in 1996-97, it declined to 6.3 per cent in 97-98, 3.6 per cent in 98-99 and 2.8 per cent in 99-2000 (against the Rubber Board projection of 3.7 per cent). For the current year, the board is projecting 6,45,000 tons of production with an annual growth rate of 3.7 per cent. Growth in area under rubber cultivation too followed a similar trend. In 1996-97, total area under cultivation was 5,33,246 hectares which grew by 2.12 per cent to 5,44,534 hectares in 97-98, then by 1.56 per cent to 5,53,041 hectares in 98-99 and 5,59,000 hectares in 99-2000. This fall in rubber production growth can be attributed to lower rate of increase in productivity. Owing to the lower level of implementation of yield improvement measures, yield growth rate figures tumbled in the recent past.

In India as the rubber growth rate has been continuously falling, inter-cropping would be an advantageous mechanism for maintaining the productivity and increasing the yield. Inter-cropping in rubber plantations can increase the land use capacity by 30 per cent to 50 per cent and create more job opportunities. The ecological and environmental effects are more pronounced from such mixed farming systems. This can be seen from reduced soil erosion, enhancement of soil nutrient status, better bio-diversity compared with arable farming, decreased temperature by 1.2 - 7.0 degree celsius and increased humidity by 2 per cent to 10 per cent to create a situation similar to secondary tropical forests.

It is concluded that correct inter-cropping in rubber plantations is a sustainable farming system. Initiative should be taken towards enhancing the productivity of existing yielding trees through improved agro-management practices like inter-cropping, soil moisture conservation, scientific crop exploitation and also the pace of adoption of these measures should be accelerated.

(Source www.CommodityIndia.com)