RRIMFLOW SYSTEM
Introduction
The discovery of ethephon as a potent stimulant of rubber trees in
the late sixties provided the opportunity for the development of alternative
methods of stimulation. Ethephon when applied on the tree trunk gave yield
increase of less than 30%. This was because the stimulant had to get into
the vascular tissue of the tree and then only released ethylene gas by
hydrolysis.
The RRIMFLOW short cut system is a system composed of a 4 inches
cut tapped on d/4 or d/3 system. This is the system that is recommended
to the industry for adoption after exhaustive research from 1991.
Benefits
The benefits of using RRIMFLOW system are as follows:-
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Increases tapper productivity
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Increases land productivity
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Overcomes tapper shortage
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Reduces bark consumption
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Makes upward tapping attractive.
The RRIMFLOW short-cut system is a another method of stimulation
with a concept of intermittent gaseous stimulation to the laticiferous
tissues uisng gaseous stimulant combined with short-cut tapping 4" spiral
cut on lower frequencies of d/4 or d/3. One gassing is done after every
two tappings.
Current recommendations allow the tapper to retain his normal task size
of 450 to 600 trees per task when RRIMFLOW is practised.
The tapping cuts are executed on the high panels, preferably HO_1. Usually,
the high panel will be tapped for 1 to 2 years before resuming tapping
on the basal panel. The later panel will be tapped for another year before
upward tapping is resumed. The alternation in the use of both the high
and low panels has led to the high yields of rubber to be sustained. This
is due to different drainage areas in the trees are being exploited.
To see the impact of RRIMFLOW, the rubber plantation size should
exceed 100 hectares ( Minimum 30,000 trees ).
For proper evaluation for using RRIMFLOW, information on the
Bark Availability, Type of Clone planted from seedling or bud-grafting
and Age of trees are required.
A write-up
by the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) is attached.
For further information : Engmepho Professional
Enterprise Sdn. Bhd.
14A, Jalan Pandan Indah 4/8, Pandan Indah,
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 603-42948368, 42946368 Fax: 603-42946368
email: twkang@emp.com.my
5th. March 2003