Gil Igot: A Trendsetter in the Productivity and Quality Standard of Rubber
In the Philippines, there is inadequate government investment in research, development and extension, and support to production system in many hig-value fruits and plantation crops. This is why Filipino farmers are envious of the farmers are envious of the farmers in neighboring countries for they receive enough support from their respective governments. Hence, they are more productive and globally competitive.
On the other hand, the limited technologies and production support services the Filipino farmers receive make them less competitive in the world market due to lower yields, high cost of production, and inadequate product quality.
For sources of technologies and innovations in fruits and plantation crops, many Filipino farmers tap research agencies and progressive farmers in neighboring countries rather than from research institutions in the Philippines. For instance, new technologies in the production and processing of fruits like durian, pummelo, longkong, mangosteen, longan, lychee, and others, are sourced from Thailand, while advanced technologies in the production of oil palm, rubber, cacao and many other tree crops, are sourced from Malaysia.
There is however, one exception. A Filipino heading a big rubber plantation in Indonesia stands out as a source of many updated technologies and innovations in rubber production and processing. He is Gil Igot, managing director of 19,000-hectare Bridgestone Rubber Sumatra Estate (BSRE) in Pematang, Siantar, North Sumatra. He also manages the 5,500-hectare Bridgestone Kalimatan Plantation (BSKP).
Utilizing his tested innovations and technologies can surely make a Filipino rubber farmer more productive and competitive. Undoubtedly, the Philippines can be a major producer of rubber with high productivity and quality using the innovations of this outstanding Filipino innovator.
AWARDED AND ADMIRED
Igot is well-known in Indonesia as he is a recipient of many citations and awards, among which are two presidential citations.
Years back, he received a Presidential Award from the then Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri for his innovations which brought about higher yield, productivity, and superior quality of rubber. This made the Indonesian rubber products more competitive in the world market.
His innovations brought about new and higher standard in rubber which benefited not only big rubber plantations like Goodyear (now Bridgestone) but also other rubber planters in Indonesia. Apparently, the technologies developed by Goodyear under the leadership of Igot were shared with the smallholders, resulting in higher yield, productivity and quality.
As a result, these smallholders were able to sell their rubber products at a higher price. The high productivity of rubber in Indonesia encouraged many farmers to engage in rubber production, thus increasing the rubber areas in that country to 3.4 million hectares, the biggest in the world.
Last June, Igot received another Presidential Award and this time from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his superior and innovative techniques in ensuring, safety and a clean working environment in the rubber processing plants through a unique disposal of rubber effluent and wastes from various rubber processing plants of Bridgestone.
BSRE built a new active sludge effluent treatment system with a unique technique in the processing of wastewater which is being followed by an increasing number of rubber processing plants. Their processing plant is devoid of foul odor and solid wastes which is common in many rubber processing establishments. The production, quality control, processing, and waste disposal systems in the Bridgestone establishments are all certified under ISO 9000 and ISO 14000.
In rubber production and processing, Igot is an institution constantly innovating for improved productivity and quality. He is very creative and continually testing new ideas which generate many positive results, making him incredibly innovative in managing the BSRE with over 5,000 employees.
He also provides support to other Bridgestone rubber plantations like the 5,500 ha rubber plantation in Kalimantan, and the 43,000-hectare rubber plantation in Liberia, West Africa, by continually providing training on upgrading of managers.
He continually upgrades the standard, thus, he becomes a trendsetter in the production and processing of rubber in various Bridgestone plantations and other rubber plantations. Many plantation managers and scientists from well-known research institutions in the rubber industry look up at him for new insights in rubber.
MADE RUBBER COMPETITIVE
The innovations of Igot in rubber production for higher yields and superior quality products in the Bridgestone Rubber Plantation have demonstrated that rubber production can compete with other high-value crops like palm oil in productivity and profitability even during times when the price of rubber is low.
Since the `90s, the price of rubber was very low. In 2001, the rubber price for TSR20 dipped to $.47/kg. Rubber trees in many plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia were cut and replaced with oil palm. Generally, oil palm gives higher productivity and is more profitable than rubber.
This is not the case in the Bridgestone plantations because Igot’s innovations not only decreased the cost of production but also increased the yield and improved the quality of rubber products for higher price. As a result, the income derived from rubber became comparable or even higher than the income derived from oil palm even when the price of rubber was at its lowest in the late `90s. Today, the TSR20 price is above $3/kg.
It took a young Filipino working as operation manager in a family rubber plantation in Makilala, Cotabato to discover the importance of the innovations of Igot in modernizing rubber production and processing in the Philippines. He is Jack Sandique. He belongs to a family of a well-known rubber planter and processor in Mindanao.
Many rubber smallholders in Mindanao looked up to the Sandique’s as source of technologies and innovations. Just like any other rubber plantations, the plantation of the Sandiques economically suffered in the later `90s when the price of rubber was very low. At that time, many rubber farmers in Cotabato cut their trees and replaced them with banana for higher income.
Rather than converting their rubber farms to banana, Jack entertained the idea that there is still a future for rubber. He decided to quit his lucrative job in Hongkong and go home to help his mother revive their rubber plantation. This was the decision of his siblings.
Since Jack was then away from Mindanao for most of his student life, and also because of his early employment in Hongkong after finishing Mechanical Engineering in Manila, he felt that there was a need to know more about rubber to revive their plantation. He then decided to attend a three-month rubber training course in RRIM of Malaysia.
After the training, Jack felt that he has not yet learned much to modernize their rubber plantation. Relating his feelings to one of his trainors in RRIM who also became his close friend, he was told that he could not expect much from RRIM since the concentration of the Malaysian government support that time was on palm oil. In fact, during the late `80s, the area planted to rubber in Malaysia was down to just a little over 800,000 ha in the late `90s. His friend suggested to Jack that if he wants to know more on technologies and innovations in rubber, he must get these from Goodyear Sumatra Plantations, now BSRE.
Without any prior communication from Goodyear and before returning to the Philippines in 2001, Jack took a plane from Kuala Lumpur to Medan. From the Medan airport he hired a taxi for a threehour journey to the plantation.
Arriving at the headquarter of the plantation, he was told by the guard that Igot was busy and that he does not normally meet people without prior appointment. Jack pleaded to the guard to tell Igot that he is a Filipino and that he would just take a few minutes of his time.
When I got learned this, he excused himself from a meeting to meet Jack. For two days, he shared with Jack his innovations in rubber. Jack got excited with these new findings which he applied and found these very useful in reviving his family’s plantation.
That visit was followed by yearly visits. Jack said that everytime he visited the plantation, he notes new technologies and innovations which are useful in improving productivity and profitability of rubber. He is happily reviving the family plantation using the technologies from Bridgestone plantation. His recent visit was on July 1-4, 2008, and he was with this author and five other persons sent by Cotabato Governor Jesus Sacdalan on a study mission.
That visit was significant to this author. In April 2008, he toured the fruits and plantation crops in Thailand and Malaysia, and revisited RRIM to observe new innovations in rubber. He found more innovations in rubber production and
processing in BSRE than in RRIM.
FULFILLED HIS BOYHOOD DREAM
Igot is an inspiration to many young Filipinos. He was born in Isabela City, Basilan in 1943. He graduated cum laude in accounting at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University in 1963 and passed the CPA board exam at the topnotchers list in 1964. Also in the same year, he was hired by Goodyear as a management trainee for rubber plantation at the Philippine Rubber Project Company Inc. (PRPC) in Kabansalan, Zamboanga Sibugay.
It was in his early employment with Goodyear when the company executives, mostly Americans, noted his passion for hard work and quality service. When he was first employed, the first question he asked the executives of Goodyear was “how could I rise in the management ladder of the company?”
Due to this, he was tested and gradually given challenging responsibilities which he always provided with excellent quality services. In 1972, he was sent to study and train in large-scale rubber planting system at Goodyear Sumatra Plantation in Indonesia. Then in 1974, he was sent to study plantation in management in Goodyear-Akron, USA.
He was promoted to assistant general manager in 1977 and became managing director at PRPC in 1982. In 1991, he was transferred to the Goodyear Sumatra Plantation where he served as general manager for 19,000 hectares of rubber and four rubber factories producing 70,000 MT per year. In 2001, he was promoted as president and managing director.
When Goodyear sold the Sumatra rubber plantation to Bridgestone in 2005, he was retained as managing director where his job included training plantation managers from other Bridgestone plantations.
COMPONENT TECHNOLOGIES IN RUBBER DEVELOPED BY MR. IGOT
For many years, Gil Igot developed technological breakthroughs in rubber production and processing which increased rubber productivity, improved product quality, and made rubber a highly competitive and profitable crop. These component technologies resulted in the following:
Reduced immaturity period of rubber. In the conventional production system, rubber is ready for tapping or harvesting of latex at five to six years. This long gestation period discouraged many investors to venture into rubber production. An indication of maturity is when the diameter of the stem of the tree measures 170 cm from the ground and 47 cm in diameter.
Through his research, Igot discovered that by using well-selected, vigorous and healthy rootstocks with outstanding clones for budding, the immaturity period can be reduced to 36 months when corestumps are used, and 42 months when green budded plants are used for field planting. This is because the young rubber plant is provided with proper care and nutrition. Most rubber nursery operators in the conventional system do not select their rootstocks.
Reduced cost of maintenance during the immature stage. The lower cost of maintenance is brought about by thorough land preparation including the removal of the roots of other trees which may cause root rot to stunt or even kill the rubber trees. Moreover, the use of corestump for planting plus intercropping extensively with fast-growing covercrop Mucuna bracteata to effectively control weeds result in lower cost of maintenance. The covercrop also generates high amount of nitrogen, reducing significantly weeding and the fertilizer needed for optimum growth of rubber trees.
Reduced cost of rubber exploitation and lengthening the life-span of the tree. In the conventional system, harvesting of rubber latex through tapping exploitation is carried out every other day. Tapping half spiral at panels 1, 2, 3, and 4 is carried out for a productive life-span of 20 years. In the new system developed by Igot, rubber is tapped once every three days as this is coupled with stimulant to increase latex production. This reduces the number of man-days for tapping. Moreover, the system includes half spiral downward tapping when the stem reaches 47 cm in diameter at 170 cm above the ground.
After four years when half of the bark of the stem is consumed by downward tapping, upward tapping is carried out starting at the original tapping point using 1/4 spirals. This is carried out until tapping reaches 300 cm above the point of original tapping. This is followed by tapping 1/4 spiral utilization the remaining 1/4 portion of the diameter of the stem where the 1/2 spiral was first started. The duration of tapping the panel is four years for a total of 12 years of exploitation of the half diameter of the tapping system. The same technique is carried out to the other half of the stem for a total of 24 years of productivity. All the time, tapping is done on virgin bark.
Prior to this practice, many rubber scientists and technicians thought that upward tapping is unsustainable and can result in lower yield. Igot proved them all wrong when he demonstrated that upward tapping gives a higher yield over downward tapping.
The techniques that he developed resulted in reduced frequency of tapping for cost cutting, increased latex yield in upward tapping for higher productivity, increased the productive life-span of rubber to 24 years or more as compared to 20 years in conventional tapping! It is also worthy to note that his earlier trials and tests, like a lot of his ideas, were first done at PRPC in Kabansalan.
Increased rubber yield for higher productivity and profit. The current average dry latex yield of rubber is less than 1,000 kg/ha per year of dry rubber in the Philippines, 1,300 kg in Malaysia and Indonesia, and over 1,500 kg/ha per year in Thailand. Such yield does not give the farmers an income which is as high as the income from many plantation crops particularly oil palm.
To make rubber productive and competitive at Bridgestone, Igot carried out research to come up with production components which could bring the yield of rubber to an average of 2,500 dry rubber per year or higher.
His earlier observation for the low rubber yield was that in a conventional plantation, 70 percent of the field is just being contributed by 30 percent of the trees. To overcome this weakness, he used several techniques. First, rootstocks are carefully selected as previously discussed. Only those which are extremely healthy and vigorous are retained through extensive culling. Second, only clones with known high yield potential are used. For this reasons, RRIM 600 is no longer used in the plantation as its yield is lower than other superior clones.
Third, he uses Mucuna bracteata which generates high volume of biomass for humus and nitrogen during the immature stage of rubber. Fourth, effective control of diseases is carried out.
And fifth, extensive pruning is done to prevent wind damage which reduces the population of productive trees. Pruning starts within a year of establishment and this includes the removal of the stems which are not exposed to sunlight thus becoming photosynthetic sink. Moreover, pruning exposes the lower canopy of the trees to sunlight, thereby reducing the occurrence of pink and other rubber diseases. Top pruning is carried out to maintain the height of the trees at 20 ft.
Igot related that when he initiated the pruning of rubber, he received a lot of criticisms, some of which from his superiors. To many so-called “experts”, rubber does not need pruning; doing it would be an added expense and reduces yield.
Igot demonstrated the technique in a semi-commercial scale involving a block of 30 ha. At one time after pruning, a strong wind damaged many trees in thousands of hectares of the plantation. No tree was damaged in the pruned block. That incident prompted the management of Goodyear to institute pruning as one of the company’s innovations. Further observations revealed that the trees are less prone to diseases when pruned. The above component practices enable the plantation to get at least 2,500 kg of dry rubber per hectare per year.
The yield of 2,500 kg of dry latex/ha per year does not require so much production inputs. In fact, Igot found that at this yield level, rubber trees no longer need fertilization from the time of tapping and onward. The yield of 2,500 kg of dry rubber at the current market price is valued at P270,000. An expense of P50,000 is already substantial. This means that a 1 ha of rubber could provide a farmer with an income of P220,000 per year.
Improved rubber quality for better price. Igot observed that in the rubber production in the Philippines and Indonesia, many rubber farmers do not get appropriate price and profit for their rubber due to poor quality product. Over the years, he experimented and meticulously developed techniques and strategies to improve quality such as no dirt with high plasticity. As a result, buyers of Bridgestone rubber products are willing to pay at premium price as they are assured of high quality.
Many of the innovations that he developed are discussed in his book “A Practical Guide for Rubber Smallholders”. This will be featured in another publication.
