Cultivo comercial del árbol Hevea brasiliensis(Willd. ex A.Juss.) para la producción de caucho natural en zonas rurales de Costa Rica

The project addresses the need to generate technical and scientific knowledge for the commercial cultivation of rubber trees, in agroforestry systems and pure plantations, as a strategy for economic reactivation in rural areas impacted by TEC's technological campuses.

On the one hand, the current model of rural economic development at the national level focuses on extensive agricultural and livestock practices. At the rural family level, small-scale, mostly subsistence-level productive activity is common, coupled with a low productive output to attract investment and generate a portfolio of projects. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new production options with a defined market and export possibilities through tractor companies

It is evident that livestock and extensive agriculture are running out of traditional options to maintain productivity in the face of market fluctuations and climate variability, so the country must rethink, in the immediate future, what the productive options will be for the degraded lands that will be abandoned in rural areas. From an ecological point of view, it could be thought that these lands could be converted into new forests, which has strengths, but limits the short- and medium-term agro-productive options for landowners

The second aspect is related to the gaps in the economic development model due to the unequal participation and contribution of women in the production chain. There are social, cultural, economic, training, and labor supply reasons, among others, but probably the inherited gender focus has been one of the most important factors in the low inclusion of women in the country's current rural development model. This gender focus varies according to geography and the country's economic development poles, but it is evident and tangible that, in all rural areas, this gender focus is significantly lower, due to the combination of the effects of social idiosyncrasies and low or nonexistent productive opportunities that cause this unbalanced situation

The rubber tree is a commercial crop that originated in Brazil and has spread to tropical zones. Its use in agroecological systems provides ecosystem benefits by reinforcing the connectivity of agrosystems. It also allows for adapting the distribution or density for association with different crops or for silvopastoral arrangements. It is not necessary to cut down the tree for its use, since the main interest is its latex, which does not require strenuous labor or the use of machinery for harvesting. Of course, at the end of its life cycle, the wood can also be harvested
In order to contribute to rural development with equality and an impact on productive reactivation, this proposal seeks to strengthen a new integrated labor-productive-participatory model based on the cultivation of Hevea brasiliensis, with the generation of knowledge on the best practices for the crop, as well as the methods of production and extraction for the commercialization of latex with quality standards and seeking the highest added value for industrialization. The above presents a very clear challenge: the model to be developed must be sustainable and contribute to the well-being of rural families over time

Generar información técnica y científica del cultivo del árbol del hule (Hevea brasiliensis) en plantaciones puras y en sistemas agroforestales que contribuya al incremento de la capacidad productiva y de exportación del látex natural hacia mercados internacionales bajo principios de sostenibilidad ambiental

Productividad y calidad de plantaciones forestales, en la Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal (Unidad académica coordinadora). Gestión ambiental, en la Escuela de Química. Sistemas de producción alternativos sostenibles y Manejo sostenible de los recursos naturales, en la Escuela de Agronomía