A worker taps a rubber treeat a rubber plantation belonging to state plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara IX in Singorojo district, Kendal, Central Java, on Friday (21/4). More than 80 percent of domestic rubber production is exported as raw materials, while the rest is allocated for domestic consumption.
PONTIANAK, KOMPAS — The collapse of latex prices to Rp 5,000 per kilogram at the farm-gate level has forced farmers to seek other options to support their families. Some have returned to working on oil palm plantations and infrastructure projects or even as illegal miners.
However, some farmers have continue with their rubber farms because they don’t have other choices. Florianus Sudion, 43, a rubber farmer in Ketapang regency, said on Tuesday that since the collapse of rubber prices, he had worked on palm plantations. "When latex prices were high, every morning I tapped the rubber trees. Now I don\'t do that every day, "he said.
The price of latex, which once reached Rp 10,000 per kg, has dropped to about Rp 5,000 per kg. If Sudion continued to work solely on his rubber farm, he would not be able to meet his daily needs or pay his children\'s school fees.
"The money from the sale of 1 kg of rubber is not enough to buy 1 kg of sugar," he said.
Matius, 35, another farmer in Ketapang, said he looked for additional income by working on infrastructure projects to make a living. He taps his rubber trees once in a while.
Older farmers have no option but to continue growing rubber trees. They keep tapping the rubber trees because they are too old to work for a plantation company.
The fall of latex prices from Rp 10,500 per kg to Rp 4,500 per kg has forced famers to find other means to make a living. To meet the needs of daily life, they become farmhands in neighboring villages or even pan for gold in the river.
"We have to sell the latex at any price, otherwise we would not be able to pay our children\'s school fees. I can get temporary work on a plantation,” Wahyudi, 40, a resident of Henda village, Pulang Pisau district, Central Kalimantan, said on Tuesday.
Residents of Mungku Baru village in Palangkaraya city have different experiences in coping with the collapse in latex prices. In this village, the lower latex price has not greatly affected the lives of the villagers because most of them now pan for gold in the Rungan River.
"The rubber farm is still there, but I no longer take care of it. If the latex price is good, I will tap the rubber trees, but it is too low now. For me, it is better to prospect for gold in the river," Jhon, 51, said.
Giving up
Meanwhile, farmers in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, have no choice but to give up. Some have abandoned their rubber farms altogether because the money from latex sales is not enough to cover taping costs. Some farmers have cut down their rubber trees and planted other crops. Acong Surbakti, a rubber farmer in Suka Makmur village, Kutalimbaru sub-district, Deli Serdang regency, said on Tuesday that he no longer hired rubber tappers.
"I\'m tapping rubber alone without the help of other workers. I have abandoned some of the rubber trees," he said.
Acong said rubber tappers were reluctant to work on rubber farms because the wages were very low. With latex prices at about Rp 6,500 per kg, tappers are paid only Rp 40,000 per day.
In fact, working as construction workers or farmhands on rice fields earns them Rp 80,000 a day.
In February, Martin Tarigan, a rubber farmer in Tiga Juhar village, Sanembah sub-district in Tanjung Muda Hulu, Deli Serdang, returned to tap his rubber trees, which he had abandoned in 2011. "It was encouraging at the time due to an increase in prices. But we have abandoned the rubber farm again," said Martin.
