FINANCIAL ANALYSES ON D4 TAPPING AS ALTERNATIVE TO D3 IN RUBBER PLANTATION OF SOUTH SUMATRA

Abstrak

Rubber plantations are experiencing unfavorable conditions with the decline in rubber prices and the increase in cost of production, particularly the cost of tapping. Therefore, it is required to explore the tapping systems to optimize the production so that the revenue could cover the cost of production. This paper is aimed to ascertain the minimum production that should be achieved to cover the production cost through the implementation of S/2 d4 low intensity tapping system. The analysis were conducted by using S/2d3+Ethrel and S/2d4+Ethrel tapping system with three scenarios; the yield with S/2d3 tapping system is 1000 kg/ha/year, 1200 kg/ha/year and 1500 kg/ha/year. Only the tapping cost was considered as a variable cost in overall cost of production.  Further, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of rubber price and wages on the profits. It was shown that the profits given at yield levels of 1000, 1200 and 1500 kg/ha/year in S/2d3 tapping system could be achieved by the yield levels of 757, 957 and 1257 kg/ha/year in S/2 d4 tapping system. If there is a change in rubber price or wages from the present level, S/2 d3 should provide a productivity over 1000 kg/ha/year whilst with the S/2 d4 tapping system, the production level of moreless than 1000 kg/ha/year is sufficient to obtain profits even with 20% decline in rubber prices and 20% increase of wages. Other implications in the adoption of S/2 d4 system are also discussed.

Keywords: low intensity tapping system, tapping cost, profit, rubber price