Mrunal Location Factors_ Rubber Plantations in Malayasia and India

1/29/2015 Mrunal Location Factors: Rubber Plantations in Malayasia and India

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[Location Factors] Rubber Plantations in Malayasia,Kerala & South America

Posted By On 28/07/2013 @ 10:30 pm In Geography | 1 Comment

1. Rubber Plantations

2. Processing of Natural Rubber

3. Factor: technology

4. Rubber: Malaysia

5. Rubber: Kerala

6. Factors: Why decline in S.America

In the previous article, we discussed the geographical factors affecting plantationcrops particularly Cocoa plantations in South America. Now let’s move to the nexttopic:

Rubber Plantations

Nature of Raw Material

Natural Rubber is obtained from latex of rubber trees.Latex=white milky liquid, collected by making cut on rubber tree bark.Latex=contains 30-40% rubber, rest material lost during processing =>preliminary processing is done near Raw material site.

Labour availablility

Tapper need to make cuts deep enough to chop the latex tube but withoutdamaging cambium=need skill.Latex is collected by affixing artificial cups on the tree bark.but latex will coagulate in cup, if kept for long=> tapper needs to collectlatex regularlyHence rubber collection=need lot of laborers.

other factors:

factor impact

climatehates cold + likes abundant moisture=both condition met neartropics

Processing of Natural Rubber

Latex from tree=>diluted with water & strained to remove dirt.Diluted latex + acid =rubber coagulates and forms slabs on top.these slabs removed ,pressed in mill to squeeze out liquidslabs=dried=become thin sheets= easy to pack & export

Factor: technology

Rise of Natural rubber demand

1830s: Charles Goodyear of the USA invented vulcanization process=

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97816112@N02/9382691143/



increased the industrial applications ofNatural rubber.1890s: automobile industry= pneumaticcars=needed rubber.

Fall of Natural rubber demand

In the 1920s, USA began to developsynthetic rubber. Although natural rubberwas still preferred because newtechnology was costly.But WW2= Japan occupied SoutheastAsia=natural rubber export to USA wascutoff.In response, US government developed a

huge synthetic rubber industry in a very short time and after WW2, sold itto private companies.

Rubber: Malaysia

Factor impact

Climate hot moist equatorial climate=suitable for Rubber trees.

Labour immigrants from China + Tamils from India

TechnologyRubber research Institute in Kuala Lumpurnew selective breeding methodsnew tapping methods to cut the labour cost

GovernmentPolicy

Replanting:

A new rubber tree yields 3-4 times more latex than an oldtree.Hence replanting of rubber tree=increases the yield.Malaysian government, provided active support forreplanting.

Quality control

Government regulates the export quality by “standardMalaysian rubber (SMR)” system e.g. SMR5 graderubbber, SMR50 grade rubber.Thus, Malaysian rubber comments respect and goodprices in international market for its uniform quality.

Rubber: Kerala

In Kerala, Rubber grown on hill slops of W.Ghats in Travancore, Kozikode,Malabar, Kottayam distrcits.

factor impact

climateRubber hates cold + likes abundant moistureKerala being coastal state + hills=both condition met.tapping done in morning to avoid afternoon rains.

soil laterite soil=good growth.

labourAvailable and skiled. One tapper can go through almost 250-300trees per day.



Kerala= lot of coconuts=their shell is used as “cup” to collect latex. Other thanthat, not much wisdom is given in books regarding ‘location factor’.

Why decline in S.America’s Rubber industry

Rubber is originally from Brazil, their government had banned export of rubberplant to maintain monopoly However, an Englishman smuggled the seeds out ofBrazil, spread Rubber plantation in Sri Lanka and other S.E.Asian countries. Buttoday S.American countries don’t figure in top Rubber producers, why?

1. South American Countries= prolonged struggles for independence, coups,countercoups =instability=no attention to infra/research necessary forRubber.

2. Their governments did not understand the importance of replanting likeMalaysians =yields kept decline after every year.

3. Rubber estates confiscated with change of regimes, land redistributedamong peasants= small scale rubber production =cannot maintain ‘uniformquality’ for exported rubber + no more ‘economies of scale’= unit cost ofproduction increased.

In the next article, we’ll discuss the geographical factors affecting the location ofsugar Mills in India and Cuba.

1. Rubber Plantations

2. Processing of Natural Rubber

3. Factor: technology

4. Rubber: Malaysia

5. Rubber: Kerala

6. Factors: Why decline in S.America

In the previous article, we discussed the geographical factors affecting plantationcrops particularly Cocoa plantations in South America. Now let’s move to the nexttopic:

Rubber Plantations

Nature of Raw Material

Natural Rubber is obtained from latex of rubber trees.Latex=white milky liquid, collected by making cut on rubber tree bark.Latex=contains 30-40% rubber, rest material lost during processing =>preliminary processing is done near Raw material site.

Labour availablility

Tapper need to make cuts deep enough to chop the latex tube but withoutdamaging cambium=need skill.Latex is collected by affixing artificial cups on the tree bark.but latex will coagulate in cup, if kept for long=> tapper needs to collectlatex regularlyHence rubber collection=need lot of laborers.

other factors:

factor impact

climatehates cold + likes abundant moisture=both condition met neartropics



Processing of Natural Rubber

Latex from tree=>diluted with water &strained to remove dirt.Diluted latex + acid =rubber coagulatesand forms slabs on top.these slabs removed ,pressed in mill tosqueeze out liquidslabs=dried=become thin sheets= easy topack & export

Factor: technology

Rise of Natural rubber demand

1830s: Charles Goodyear of the USAinvented vulcanization process=

increased the industrial applications of Natural rubber.1890s: automobile industry= pneumatic cars=needed rubber.

Fall of Natural rubber demand

In the 1920s, USA began to develop synthetic rubber. Although naturalrubber was still preferred because new technology was costly.But WW2= Japan occupied Southeast Asia=natural rubber export to USAwas cutoff.In response, US government developed a huge synthetic rubber industry ina very short time and after WW2, sold it to private companies.

Rubber: Malaysia

Factor impact

Climate hot moist equatorial climate=suitable for Rubber trees.

Labour immigrants from China + Tamils from India

TechnologyRubber research Institute in Kuala Lumpurnew selective breeding methodsnew tapping methods to cut the labour cost

GovernmentPolicy

Replanting:

A new rubber tree yields 3-4 times more latex than an oldtree.Hence replanting of rubber tree=increases the yield.Malaysian government, provided active support forreplanting.

Quality control

Government regulates the export quality by “standardMalaysian rubber (SMR)” system e.g. SMR5 graderubbber, SMR50 grade rubber.Thus, Malaysian rubber comments respect and goodprices in international market for its uniform quality.

Rubber: Kerala

In Kerala, Rubber grown on hill slops of W.Ghats in Travancore, Kozikode,



Malabar, Kottayam distrcits.

factor impact

climateRubber hates cold + likes abundant moistureKerala being coastal state + hills=both condition met.tapping done in morning to avoid afternoon rains.

soil laterite soil=good growth.

labourAvailable and skiled. One tapper can go through almost 250-300trees per day.

Kerala= lot of coconuts=their shell is used as “cup” to collect latex. Other thanthat, not much wisdom is given in books regarding ‘location factor’.

Why decline in S.America’s Rubber industry

Rubber is originally from Brazil, their government had banned export of rubberplant to maintain monopoly However, an Englishman smuggled the seeds out ofBrazil, spread Rubber plantation in Sri Lanka and other S.E.Asian countries. Buttoday S.American countries don’t figure in top Rubber producers, why?

1. South American Countries= prolonged struggles for independence, coups,countercoups =instability=no attention to infra/research necessary forRubber.

2. Their governments did not understand the importance of replanting likeMalaysians =yields kept decline after every year.

3. Rubber estates confiscated with change of regimes, land redistributedamong peasants= small scale rubber production =cannot maintain ‘uniformquality’ for exported rubber + no more ‘economies of scale’= unit cost ofproduction increased.

In the next article, we’ll discuss the geographical factors affecting the location ofsugar Mills in India and Cuba.

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Mrunal Location Factors_ Rubber Plantations in Malayasia and India