Rubber Tree Maturity Period
As shown in Table 3, inter-cropping shortened the maturity
(tappability) period of the rubber tree with higher percentages
of trees attaining maturity in plots with cooking banana at
closer spacings 2 × 2 m and 3 × 3 m compared to others, at five
years after planting. Theis observation could partly be attrib-
uted to improved management methods resulting from inte-
gration of banana (Esekhade et al., 2005) and the early shadingeffect of the banana which may have alleviated the commonly
observed radiation induced photosynthic reduction in young
Hevea plants due to easy penetration of sun rays during the
early growth stage under sole rubber cropping system (Senevi-
rathna et al., 2003). Such shading effect is known to promote
leave production, with an associated leave area increase per
plant. Similarly, increased growth rate and dry matter accumu-
lation have been observed among rubber plants intercropped
with cassava (Esekhade, 2004).