Application of Plated Rubber System (PRESS) for Rubber Identification

Abstract

Rubber prices are influenced by several factors including supply and demand especially from countries who are major rubber producers and consumers as well the growth rate of the world economy. High rubber prices increase the incidence of rubber theft, thus forcing the owners to build hut and camp in their rubber estates to prevent such occurrence. Rubber theft becomes prevalent not only at night but also in the broad daylight as the commodity price increases. From the survey, it has been noted that more than 10 incidents of theft have been reported within 15 days. Plated Rubber System (PRESS) was developed to imprint an identification entity on rubber that leads to identifying the ownership. With the invention of this system, the stolen number of rubber can be reduced because each rubber smallholders has their personal serial identification plate. The main objective PRESS is to establish an identification of rubber, helping to reduce the theft of rubber at farm level as well as to curb the sale of stolen rubber. In addition, it can be used to regulate the quality of rubber produced by smallholders and developing a database profile of rubber smallholders. The finding shows that the respondent agreed that the innovation of PRESS may help them to reduce the prevalence of rubber theft and increase the good practice of plantation management that leads to greater efficiency and productivity.