Our rubber smallholding – considering growing some Gaharu trees
Picture Credit: My son. The tall scrawny looking trees are the 1.5 year old rubber saplings.
Yesterday, my son and I visited our rubber smallholding.
The rubber saplings are growing well. They still have about 3.5 years or so, before they can be tapped for their latex. I have mentioned earlier that the land is hilly and we have cut terraces on which the rubber seedlings were planted. We originally planted about 2,100 trees. About 200 trees have died and new ones have been planted in their place.
The latest “census” indicates that another 300 trees can be planted in the spaces available. The walk around the smallholding was quite a tiring one, but the spectacular view from the top made the whole thing worthwhile. I had a deep feeling of satisfaction when I reflected back on the work that has been done on the land since mid 2006 (when my wife and I sighted the land for the first time.)
And though this was not the first time, my son has climbed up this hill, somehow I felt a stronger sense of belonging and responsibility from him.
Recently some friends of mine have talked about planting gaharu or agarwood trees. These trees are prized for their resin which is used in the manufacture of perfume.
Some additional information on the tree is shown here.
Our Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) sells these seedlings. I talked with one of the research scientists at FRIM and he mentioned that they had a waiting list for the seedlings till 2010!!!
He also mentioned that the trees should be inoculated (wow!….I’ll find out about this later) when they are 5 years old, and they can be harvested when they are 7 years and later. And he also mentioned that the later the better.
It seems that commercial planting of gaharu trees is a big business in Malaysia. So there are also a number of private planters from whom we can buy the seedlings.
I’ll discuss this with my wife and then craft out a plan to buy and to plant the trees. And then I’ll follow up with an investment appraisal. For now, we’ll just plant for fun.
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