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A woman farmer taps dripping resin from a rubber tree in a plantation on Pulau Langkawi Island, Malaysia. We see the lady surrounded by even rows of trees, all carefully spaced when planted. Each cool evening the tapper removes a thin layer of bark along a downward half spiral on the tree trunk. She makes an incision in the bark of the tree and fluid then drains into a collecting vessel. If done carefully and with skill, this tapping panel will yield latex for up to 5 years. Malaysia is one of the top exporters of natural rubber. Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea, some 30 km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia.

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Filename: rubber_plantation-16-05-1981.jpg
Copyright: Richard Baker
Image Size: 2749x4096 / 1.2MB; Malaysia Langkawi pulau rubber plantation growing farming travel Hevea brasiliensis latex tropical producers trees cultivate tapping tap habit routine daily career salary wage job employee Rubberwood volume hectare management traditional timber resource materials commodity geographic smallholders forest rural countryside export industrial Southeast Asia species natural forestry financial economy high-value yield planted bending cutting collection Kedah evening temperature ideal method technique worker working work resources raw resin
Contained in galleries: Richard Baker - All pics

A woman farmer taps dripping resin from a rubber tree in a plantation on Pulau Langkawi Island, Malaysia. We see the lady surrounded by even rows of trees, all carefully spaced when planted. Each cool evening the tapper removes a thin layer of bark along a downward half spiral on the tree trunk. She makes an incision in the bark of the tree and fluid then drains into a collecting vessel. If done carefully and with skill, this tapping panel will yield latex for up to 5 years. Malaysia is one of the top exporters of natural rubber. Langkawi is an archipelago of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea, some 30 km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia.