RPI price to increase smallholders’ income by RM144 a month
KUALA LUMPUR: The increase in the Rubber Production Incentive ( RPI) activation price from RM2.20 a kg to RM2.50 a kg from 2019 is expected to increase the income of rubber smallholders by RM144 a month or RM1,728 a year for a two- hectare smallholding.
Malaysian Rubber Board ( LGM) Director- General Datuk Dr Zairossani Mohd Nor said the current price of scrap rubber was RM1.80 a kg, but only 15 per cent to 20 per cent of smallholders had benefited from this production category since its introduction in 2015.
He said the increase to smallholders’ income was higher than the three- month RM600 Monsoon season aid.
“Therefore, we want as many smallholders as possible to apply for the RPI. The more rubber they ( the smallholders) tap, the more income generated,” he told a press conference here yesterday.
Zairossani said Malaysia had more than one million hectares of rubber plantations producing more than one million tonnes of natural rubber annually, of which 90 per cent was produced by smallholders.
Currently, the RPI is activated when the average monthly price for SMR 20 grade rubber is below RM5.50 a kg or RM2.20 a kg for rubber cup lump.
From 2015 to date, RM102 million had been channelled to smallholders.
The increase in the RPI
Therefore, we want as many smallholders as possible to apply for the RPI. The more rubber they (the smallholders) tap, the more income generated. Datuk Dr Zairossani Mohd Nor, Malaysian Rubber Board (LGM) Director-General
payment to RM2.50 a kg from 2019 will assist smallholders faced with low commodity prices.
Zairossani, however, said rubber production was still insufficient to meet domestic demand which resulted in Malaysia becoming a natural rubber net importer.
“Malaysia is the third largest exporter of raw rubber, but we still lack sufficient rubber for the use of domestic downstream sectors.
“We expect rubber products export to rise to more than RM18 billion in 2018. Therefore, rubber production must be increased if we are to reduce dependency on rubber imports,” he said.
Zairossani said the monsoon season which ends in January was expected to reduce local rubber tapping activities and rubber production.
He also encouraged smallholders to use the rain gutter protection device to prevent panel slots on rubber trees from getting wet during drizzles.
“On average, tapping activities can be carried out 10 days a month. During the rainy season, this falls to three to four days.
“Through the use of the rain gutter device, the number of tapping days ( during the monsoon) can be increased to six or seven days a month,” he said.
The rain gutter protection device is in large- scale use in private plantations throughout the country, including the Malaysian Rubber Board plantations in Sungai Kari, Kedah and Kota Tinggi, Johor.
Meanwhile, Zairossani said that late tapping activities could be carried out when panel slots dried in the event of continuous heavy rain.
“Although the yield from late tapping is low, tapping activities can still be carried out.
“The assumption that tapping can only be carried early morning must be corrected because tapping can be carried out at any time,” he said.
He said the highest yield from rubber trees occurred from September to February before the onset of the wintering season from March to May.
“We do not encourage tappers to tap during the wintering season, while the months of June to August are the mid-production period,” he added.
Zairossani said current rubber prices were low due to overproduction from new producers such as Laos and Vietnam. — Bernama