Establish 35 New Bud Wood Nurseries
TODEE, Montserrado, Liberia—The Rubber Planters’ Association of Liberia (RPAL), in partnership with the Rubber Development Fund Incorporated (RDFI), has completed the distribution of 200,000 budded rubber stumps to smallholder farmers and establishment of 35 new bud wood nurseries.
The initiative, according to RPAL officials, is aimed to support the establishment of bud wood nurseries through farmer cooperatives across nine counties in Liberia.
The benefiting counties include Bomi, Bong, Gbarpolu, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, Lofa, Margibi, Montserrado, Nimba, and River Cess.
Speaking recently in Popo Town, Bong County and Yarkpai Town in Todee District, the president of RPAL, Wilhelmina G. Mulbah-Siaway said the nationwide visit is intended to obtain firsthand reports on the progress of the eight-month initiative.
She said during an assessment tour of the project’s first phase rubber nurseries, that the project focuses on empowering smallholder farmers with improved planting materials and technical support.
Mrs. Mulbah-Siaway disclosed that during phase one, RPAL and RDFI established 35 new bud wood nurseries, adding to the existing 47 nurseries and bringing the total to 82 improved clone nurseries nationwide.
RPAL’s President Wilhelmina G. Mulbah Siaway along with RPAL’s Executive Director Galima Jallah at the Yarkpai Town’s Smallholder Rubber Cooperative Nursery in Todee, Montserrado County
“These bud wood nurseries will provide support to seedlings nurseries with a target of producing one million budded rubber stumps for distribution and planting by smallholder farmers by 2026,” she said.
The RPAL President explained that farmers—now organized into cooperatives—have also begun establishing their own bud wood nurseries, ensuring access to propagation materials needed to bud-graft rootstock nurseries for planting and distributing improved clones to farmers in the targeted counties.
According to the RPAL president, RPAL and RDFI will purchase the budded stumps from the cooperatives and onward distribute them to the smallholder farmers with individual farmer expected to receive 1,000 budded stumps for planting on their farms.
“This project is about increasing rubber production in Liberia. It’s a win-win project. The government stands to benefit from increased revenue, processors will access more raw materials, and farmers will see an increase in production,” she added.
Mrs. Mulbah-Siaway said that as part of the technical support component, RPAL has hired agricultural field supervisors and technicians to provide farmers with best practices and updated technologies in rubber cultivation.
She disclosed that RPAL is supplying farmers with the necessary agricultural inputs for establishing and maintaining bud wood gardens, as well as expanding access to hands-on techniques through extension services.
RPAL and RDFI are also said to be offering training in bud-grafting, tapping, nursery management, and other essential skills.
“The organizations are also working to increase RPAL’s membership by issuing free identification cards to farmers,” She disclosed.
Mrs. Mulbah-Siaway emphasized that the interventions aim to ensure farmers receive value for the fees they pay, including improved budded stumps, extension services, training, and cooperative organization.
“These efforts will help farmers achieve better results through collective action while improving their access to essential materials and skills,” she stated.
For their part, the farmers extended gratitude to RPAL & RDFI for the support and promised to remain committed to the initiative.