Agronomic and Financial Assessment of a Tapping System Reducing the Shortage of Tapping Labour in Rubber Tree Cultivation in Southeastern Côte d’Ivoire

Rubber trees are the main source of natural rubber and a source of income for several companies and farmers around the world. However, its latex harvesting is threatened by the lack of tapping labour which can cause a considerable drop in rubber yield or even the collapse of this sector. This work aims to evaluate agronomically and financially a tapping system reducing the shortage of tapping labour. The study was carried out at the Société Africaine de Plantations d'Hévéa (SAPH) of Toupah in southeastern Côte d'Ivoire, during three months (from April to June 2018). Rubber tree clones comprising the three main metabolic activity classes, namely GT 1, RRIC 100, IRCA 230 and PB 217, with different years of latex harvesting were selected and subjected to two treatments (normal tapping and tapping system reducing the shortage of tapping labour) in a completely randomized blocks design with 4 repetitions. This comparative study was carried out on the basis of the agronomical parameters and the profitability of the tapping tested. The results showed that compared to normal tapping, tapping system reducing the shortage of tapping labour is more productive (+17%) and profitable (+18%). This tapping system reduces the operating expenses and social expenses by 3% and the shortage of tapping labour by 25%. It is an alternative to reduce the enormous shortage of tapping labour observed in Côte d'Ivoire and around the world.