Rubber Seedlings on Sale

Independent Mon News Agency

June 28, 2005

Rubber plants cultivation in lower part of Burma has grown up and it created the selling of rubber seedling become a main business and huge amount of rubber seeds are on sale in southern Mon State.

More local people cleaned up uncultivated or wild land and are interested to plant rubber plants. The Mon State PDC’s Agriculture and Long-term crop planning department also planned to grow rubber in 30, 000 acres in this year in Mon State, according to a retired manager.

According to rubber seedling traders, most of small rubber plants are sold to local people who plan to grow in their own land before the rain fell in June.

"Rubber seeds or seedlings are also distributed in northern Shan State, Kachin State and Sagaing Division (in order to encourage farmers to grow more rubber). The seedlings are also exported to China and Thailand," the manager added.

The demand for rubber seedling has been enormous, and the price has grown up. Currently the farmers have to buy a rubber seedling with price of 450-500 Kyat (~ 0. 5 US Dollar) per seedling. Many students who gratuated with rubber hybrid subject run their own business in their town because of the price increased form 240-300 per seedling of last year

Rubber seed collecting in the rubber plantation also become a job in Mon state .

"You can not find any seed in the plantation, just see heaps of seed shells. You can find no seeds on the grounds. Many of them climbed up on rubber and gathered them," Nai Min, a seek collector said.

"The price of a seed is 1.5 Kyat when they sell to trader, and a seed collector can earn about 5, 000 Kyat (5 US Dollar) per day (if he/she could get a lot of seeds)" Nai Blai explained how seed collector made money in his village near Thanpyuzayat, a small town in Mon State where 70-80% of plantations are grown with rubber.

The SPDC’s Agriculture Ministry also established a research center in Mon State, and imported rubber seedling for research purposes from Malaysia and tested and re-produced for the government plantations. But the local farmers just have to collect the seeds or buy seedlings from traders to grow in their plantations.

On June 17, 2005, to control the seedling traders, local authorities in Thanpyuzayat Township ordered the traders to register their business activities. Some traders did not satisfy with the order.

In southern Mon State, there are 105, 000 acres of rubber plantations and are grown by both government and the local Mon farmers. Some rubber plantations belonged to Mon people in Ye and Thanbyuzayat Townships are also confiscated by the Burmese Army when they deployed the military regiments.

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