Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences
J. Anim. Plant Sci. [ISSN 2071 - 7024]
Volume 2 (3): 109 - 117. Published April 2, 2009.
Low tapping frequency with hormonal stimulation on Hevea brasiliensis clone PB 217 reduces tapping manpower requirement
Eric Francis SOUMAHIN*^, Samuel OBOUAYEBA* and Pierre Abo ANNO**
*Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA), Station de Recherche de Bimbresso, Programme Hévéa, 01 BP 1536 Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire ; **Université de Cocody, UFR Biosciences, Laboratoire de Physiologie Végétale, 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22, Côte d’Ivoire.
^Corresponding author: email: soumahin@yahoo.fr
SUMMARY
In rubber tree growing, the tapping manpower is scarce and expensive. One way to remedy this problem is by reducing the tapping frequency, with production compensated for by hormonal stimulation of the plant. The aim of this work was to study the influence of low tapping frequency on rubber production parameters. Weekly tapping of clone PB 217 of Hevea brasiliensis, grown in the southeast of Côte d’Ivoire under different stimulation systems, was compared to the tapping done every four days (classical tapping). The weekly tapping, compensated by the stimulation, had rubber production levels and profit margins comparable to those of the classical tapping. Moreover, the weekly tapping has no negative effect on the vegetative, sanitary and physiological state of the trees. Our results show that with clone PB 217 it is possible to remedy tapping manpower scarcity and cost by reducing tapping frequency and compensating production by stimulation. With the low tapping frequency system, the number of tappers required can be reduced by up to 33 %.
Key words
Hevea brasiliensis, tapping, frequency, stimulation, profit margin, Côte d’Ivoire
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