ISBN: - 978-93-88936-09-5 Controlled upward tapping (CUT) can be practised from renewed panel stage onwards for longer duration of crop harvesting from the virgin bark above the basal panel. Controlled upward tapping can be adopted under the following situations: i) Low yield from the renewed bark. ii) Renewed bark is unsuitable for tapping because of outgrowths, diseases, panel dryness and the like. 3. Intensive tapping Intensive tapping is generally done on old rubber trees for a few years prior to felling. The method depends on condition of trees, previous tapping systems, availability of bark and the period available for harvesting before felling. When tapping of renewed bark on basal panels becomes uneconomic, new cuts are opened at higher levels, 180 cm from bud union or even higher. 4 .5 (G) Rain guarding During rainy season tapping can be carried out by fixing a rain guard just above the tapping cut. Thus by preventing loss of tapping days due to rain, regular tapping can be ensured by rain guarding under any given tapping frequency. Chances of bark are high when the trees are rain guarded and tapping is continued during rainy season. 4 .5 (H) Tapping rest In South India, rubber trees shed leaves from December to February and defoliate soon alongwith the production of flowers. During defoliation and flowering, the yield of rubber will be comparatively poor. 4 .5 (I) Rubber Tappers Bank (RTB) Scarcity of skilled tappers is currently the major handicap the rubber plantation industry has to address. The number of trained tappers in the job is coming down steadily and significantly. To make the tapping job attractive and to enhance the dignity of the work a scheme for formation of rubber tappers bank as an SHG of skilled tappers under the umbrella of RPS is launched. Job assurance, reasonable wage pattern, life insurance coverage, attractive savings (in PPF) and terminal benefit packages are offered to member tappers. The scheme is envisaged to ensure the availability of sufficiently skilled and motivated tappers essential for the sustainability of the rubber plantation industry. 4 .5 (J) Latex Hevea latex in the latex vessels of tapped trees contains 30-45 per cent rubber in the form of particles. Latex is a hydrosol in which the dispersed particles are protected by a complex film. It contains more than one disperse phase. 4 .5 (K) Latex flow 105
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