Study by the ATeG of Senar/MS demonstrates the productive potential of rubber farming

ATeG (Technical and Management Assistance) at Senar/MS began collecting information regarding the production and costs of rubber tree cultivation. With support from field technicians, the objective is to guide the management of the production chain of forests planted in the 2021/2022 harvest, so that rural producers have initial information about the production systems.

In Mato Grosso do Sul, 10 municipalities are part of the ATeG in rubber tree cultivation, totaling a planted area of ​​5,6 thousand hectares with 2,6 million plants, approximately 25% of the state's planted area. The number refers to 58% of regional rubber producer establishments. The survey was carried out in the municipalities of Aparecida do Taboado, Cassilândia, Inocência and Paranaíba.

Data from the producers assisted revealed that extraction began between 2009 and 2020, with an average of 4,6 kilos of clot per plant being extracted in the 2021/2022 harvest, with variations between 2,71 and 7,5 kilos per plant year. “Production variations are due to frost, rubber plantation management methodology, labor qualifications, number of rubber tappers per plant, among other reasons”, explains the coordinator of Technical and Management Assistance in Planted Forests, Gislene Pereira.

The average price paid to the producer was R$5,40 per kilogram of rubber produced, varying between R$4,45 in the months of June, July and August and R$6,47 in the months of March and April 2022.

The information collected corresponds to an area of ​​more than 2 thousand hectares, with 1,6 million plants, 39% in the extraction phase and 61% still unexplored. “The reasons for these numbers are: from plants that have not yet reached the minimum circumference for bleeding to begin or even losses caused by frost, in addition to attacks by wild animals, inadequate management and lack of labor”, he details.

The coordinator of the Technical and Management Assistance department at Senar/MS, Nivaldo Passos, highlights that there is potential to be explored. “By serving rural rubber producers, it is possible to further develop rubber production and the management of rubber trees in the state.”

The average cost of maintaining the rubber plantation, calculated in reais/plant/year, was R$7,05, with emphasis on the payment of labor.

The 22 properties monitored by Senar/MS field technicians who participated in the survey presented a gross revenue of more than R$2021 million for the 2022/8,7 harvest, with an effective operating cost of R$3,9 million. The gross margin was R$4,8 million, a number that represents R$12,00 per plant or R$6 thousand per hectare of gross margin per year.