ISBN: - 978-93-88936-09-5 Finally, reported average earnings under the 2003 Agreement are much higher than under the agreement before it both in nominal and real terms, suggesting some improvement in overall earnings were indeed achieved. (7) Benin City, Nigeria”, the study was conducted to analyse the technical inefficiency of rubber tapping in Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria Benin City, Edo State. Time series data of 129 tappers were analysed using stochastic frontier analysis. The tappers were sampled using simple random sampling technique. The result of the stochastic frontier production function revealed that the variance of parameters (gamma and sigma squared) of the frontier production function were both significant at p<0.01. There were substantial variations in estimated efficiencies ranging from 0.38 for the least practiced tapper and 0.99 for the best tapper with a mean technical efficiency of 0.72. However, the inefficiency model revealed that education, training and gender were found to have significant effect on tappers efficiency at one percent probability level. It was however recommended that addressing the tappers specific factors would reduce inefficiency in rubber tapping. (8) Rodrigo (2007) in his research paper “Adoption of different tapping systems in the rubber industry of Sri Lanka with special reference to low frequency tapping”, presents the following argument Tapping is the most costly activity in natural rubber production and the shortage of tappers is a serious problem in rubber plantations in Sri Lanka. Low Frequency Tapping (LFT) systems are considered to be a solution to these issues by reducing the number of tappers required and increasing tappers' income. With no information available on the adoption of different tapping systems, the present study was aimed to assess the existing tapping systems and associated effects on the productivity and other related issues in both plantation and smallholder sectors in Sri Lanka. Also, focus was given to identify the factors hindering for the adoption of LFT. Information was initially gathered using questionnaire based surveys and then verified through participatory workshops. The study revealed that the poor productivity in the plantation sector was highly associated with the shortage of skilled tappers. Productivity of the smallholdings tapped with family labour was less than that of smallholdings tapped with hired labour and this had been associated with the quality of tapping. In general, incorrect agro management practices have resulted in poor productivity. With no proper knowledge, the adoption of the LFT was rather poor in the plantation sector and zero in the smallholder sector. In view of addressing the issues related to the tapper shortage, an effective programme was proposed with the application of LFT. It 40
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