1/29/2015

Mrunal Location Factors: Rubber Plantations in Malayasia and India

- Mrunal - http://mrunal.org -

[Location Factors] Rubber Plantations in Malayasia,

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

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Rubber Plantations
Processing of Natural Rubber
Factor: technology
Rubber: Malaysia
Rubber: Kerala
Factors: Why decline in S.America

In the previous article, we discussed the geographical factors affecting plantation

crops particularly Cocoa plantations in South America. Now lets move to the next
topic:

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 without
damaging 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 collect
latex regularly
Hence rubber collection=need lot of laborers.
other factors:
impact

factor
climate

hates cold + likes abundant moisture=both condition met near

tropics

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 liquid
slabs=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://mrunal.org/2013/07/geography-location-factors-rubber-plantations-malayasia-kerala-india-south-america.html/print/

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1/29/2015

Mrunal Location Factors: Rubber Plantations in Malayasia and India

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 natural rubber
was still preferred because new
technology was costly.
But WW2= Japan occupied Southeast
Asia=natural rubber export to USA was
cutoff.
In response, US government developed a
huge synthetic rubber industry in a 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

Rubber research Institute in Kuala Lumpur
new selective breeding methods
new tapping methods to cut the labour cost

Technology

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

Government
Policy
Quality control

Government regulates the export quality by standard

Malaysian rubber (SMR) system e.g. SMR5 grade
rubbber, SMR50 grade rubber.
Thus, Malaysian rubber comments respect and good
prices 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

climate

impact
Rubber hates cold + likes abundant moisture
Kerala being coastal state + hills=both condition met.
tapping done in morning to avoid afternoon rains.

soil

laterite soil=good growth.

labour

Available and skiled. One tapper can go through almost 250-300

trees per day.

http://mrunal.org/2013/07/geography-location-factors-rubber-plantations-malayasia-kerala-india-south-america.html/print/

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1/29/2015

Mrunal Location Factors: Rubber Plantations in Malayasia and India

Kerala= lot of coconuts=their shell is used as cup to collect latex. Other than
that, not much wisdom is given in books regarding location factor.

Why decline in S.Americas Rubber industry

Rubber is originally from Brazil, their government had banned export of rubber
plant to maintain monopoly However, an Englishman smuggled the seeds out of
Brazil, spread Rubber plantation in Sri Lanka and other S.E.Asian countries. But
today S.American countries dont figure in top Rubber producers, why?
1. South American Countries= prolonged struggles for independence, coups,
countercoups =instability=no attention to infra/research necessary for
Rubber.
2. Their governments did not understand the importance of replanting like
Malaysians =yields kept decline after every year.
3. Rubber estates confiscated with change of regimes, land redistributed
among peasants= small scale rubber production =cannot maintain uniform
quality for exported rubber + no more economies of scale= unit cost of
production increased.
In the next article, well discuss the geographical factors affecting the location of
sugar Mills in India and Cuba.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Rubber Plantations
Processing of Natural Rubber
Factor: technology
Rubber: Malaysia
Rubber: Kerala
Factors: Why decline in S.America

In the previous article, we discussed the geographical factors affecting plantation

crops particularly Cocoa plantations in South America. Now lets move to the next
topic:

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 without
damaging 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 collect
latex regularly
Hence rubber collection=need lot of laborers.

factor
climate

other factors:
impact
hates cold + likes abundant moisture=both condition met near
tropics

http://mrunal.org/2013/07/geography-location-factors-rubber-plantations-malayasia-kerala-india-south-america.html/print/

3/5

1/29/2015

Mrunal Location Factors: Rubber Plantations in Malayasia and India

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 liquid
slabs=dried=become thin sheets= easy to
pack & export

Factor: technology
Rise of Natural rubber demand
1830s: Charles Goodyear of the USA
invented 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 natural
rubber was still preferred because new technology was costly.
But WW2= Japan occupied Southeast Asia=natural rubber export to USA
was cutoff.
In response, US government developed a huge synthetic rubber industry in
a 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

Technology

Rubber research Institute in Kuala Lumpur

new selective breeding methods
new tapping methods to cut the labour cost
Replanting:
A new rubber tree yields 3-4 times more latex than an old
tree.
Hence replanting of rubber tree=increases the yield.
Malaysian government, provided active support for
replanting.

Government
Policy
Quality control

Government regulates the export quality by standard

Malaysian rubber (SMR) system e.g. SMR5 grade
rubbber, SMR50 grade rubber.
Thus, Malaysian rubber comments respect and good
prices in international market for its uniform quality.

Rubber: Kerala
In Kerala, Rubber grown on hill slops of W.Ghats in Travancore, Kozikode,
http://mrunal.org/2013/07/geography-location-factors-rubber-plantations-malayasia-kerala-india-south-america.html/print/

4/5

1/29/2015

Mrunal Location Factors: Rubber Plantations in Malayasia and India

Malabar, Kottayam distrcits.

factor

climate

impact
Rubber hates cold + likes abundant moisture
Kerala being coastal state + hills=both condition met.
tapping done in morning to avoid afternoon rains.

soil

laterite soil=good growth.

labour

Available and skiled. One tapper can go through almost 250-300

trees per day.

Kerala= lot of coconuts=their shell is used as cup to collect latex. Other than
that, not much wisdom is given in books regarding location factor.

Why decline in S.Americas Rubber industry

Rubber is originally from Brazil, their government had banned export of rubber
plant to maintain monopoly However, an Englishman smuggled the seeds out of
Brazil, spread Rubber plantation in Sri Lanka and other S.E.Asian countries. But
today S.American countries dont figure in top Rubber producers, why?
1. South American Countries= prolonged struggles for independence, coups,
countercoups =instability=no attention to infra/research necessary for
Rubber.
2. Their governments did not understand the importance of replanting like
Malaysians =yields kept decline after every year.
3. Rubber estates confiscated with change of regimes, land redistributed
among peasants= small scale rubber production =cannot maintain uniform
quality for exported rubber + no more economies of scale= unit cost of
production increased.
In the next article, well discuss the geographical factors affecting the location of
sugar Mills in India and Cuba.

Article printed from Mrunal: http://mrunal.org

URL to article: http://mrunal.org/2013/07/geography-location-factors-rubberplantations-malayasia-kerala-india-south-america.html

Copyright 2014 Mrunal. All rights reserved.

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