Agroforestry is often seen as a sustainable land-use system for agricultural production providing ecosystem services. Intercropping with food crops leads to equal or higher productivity than monoculture and results in food production for industry and subsistence. Low rubber price and low labor productivity in smallholdings have led to a dramatic conversion of rubber plantations to more profitable crops. The literature analysis performed in this paper aimed at better understanding the ins and outs that could make rubber-based agroforestry more attractive for farmers. A comprehensive search of references was conducted in March 2023 using several international databases and search engines. A Zotero library was set up consisting of 415 scientific references. Each reference was carefully read and tagged in several categories: cropping system, country, main tree species, intercrop type, intercrop product, level of product use, discipline of the study, research topic, and intercrop species. Of the 232 journal articles, 141 studies were carried out on rubber agroforestry. Since 2011, the number of studies per year has increased. Studies on rubber-based agroforestry systems are performed in most rubber-producing countries, in particular in Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Brazil. These studies focus more or less equally on perennials (forest species and fruit trees), annual intercrops, and mixed plantations. Of the 47 annual crops associated with rubber in the literature, 20 studies dealt with rice, maize, banana, and cassava. Agronomy is the main discipline in the literature followed by socio-economy and then ecology. Only four papers are devoted to plant physiology and breeding. The Discussion Section has attempted to analyze the evolution of rubber agroforestry research, progress in the selection of food crop varieties adapted to agroforestry systems, and to draw some recommendations for rubber-based agroforestry systems associated with food crops.

Agroforestry is often seen as a sustainable land-use system for agricultural production providing ecosystem services. Intercropping with food crops leads to equal or higher productivity than monoculture and results in food production for industry and subsistence. Low rubber price and low labor productivity in smallholdings have led to a dramatic conversion of rubber plantations to more profitable crops. The literature analysis performed in this paper aimed at better understanding the ins and outs that could make rubber-based agroforestry more attractive for farmers. A library was set-up consisting of 415 scientific references. Of the 232 journal articles, 141 studies were carried out on rubber agroforestry. Since 2011, the number of studies per year has increased. Studies on rubber-based agroforestry systems are performed in most rubber producing countries, in particular in Indonesia, Thailand, China and Brazil. These studies focus more or less equally on perennials (forest species and fruit trees), annual intercrops and mixed plantations. Of the 47 annual crops associated with rubber in the literature, 20 studies dealt with rice, maize, banana and cassava. Agronomy is the main discipline in the literature followed by socio-economy and then ecology. Only 4 papers are devoted to plant physiology and breeding. The discussion section has attempted to analyze the evolution of rubber agroforestry research, progress in the selection of food crop varieties adapted to agroforestry systems, and to draw some recommendations for rubber-based agroforestry systems associated with food crops.

Pendapatan rumah tangga petani karet saat ini sedang menurun. Hal ini berdampak pada rendahnya daya beli, kemampuan menabung, pembentukan modal usaha tani, tingkat kesehatan dan pendidikan keluarga petani karet. Petani memerlukan pendapatan yang relatif stabil sepanjang siklus penanaman karet. Petani saat ini dapat menanam tanaman sela diantara tanaman karet. Tanaman kopi (Coffea canephora) dapat menjadi opsi tanaman sela diantara tanaman karet (Hevea brasiliensis). Penanaman tanaman sela perlu mempertimbangkan faktor kompetisi antar komoditi sehingga diperlukan penyesuaian jarak tanam. Jarak tanam yang digunakan adalah jarak tanam ganda (JG) 19 m + (4 m x 2 m) dengan populasi karet 435 pohon/ha. Kopi ditanam diantara jarak tanam lebar dengan jarak tanam 2 m x 2 m dan jarak antara tanaman kopi dan karet adalah 5 m. Kajian ini ditulis dengan metode studi pustaka dengan mengumpulkan data sekunder dari buku, jurnal dan penelitian yang sudah pernah dilakukan sebelumnya. Hasil analisis pendapatan usaha tani tumpang sari tanaman karet dan kopi menunjukkan hasil positif. Pendapatan usaha tani karet monokultur sebesar Rp9.717.159,52 per tahun per hektar, sementara rata-rata pendapatan untuk usaha tani kopi sebagai tanaman sela sebesar Rp38.814.285 per tahun per hektar dan rata-rata penerimaan usaha tani karet dan kopi sistem JG sebesar Rp48.531.444. Nilai NPV sistem karet monokultur layak pada tingkat bunga investasi 5%, masing-masing sebesar Rp5,603,746,- untuk sistem jarak tunggal (JT) dan Rp2.819.424,- untuk sistem jarak ganda (JG).

Gulma merupakan tumbuhan yang dapat mengganggu pertumbuhan tanaman dan berpotensi menurunkan produksi tanaman karet apabila tidak dilakukan pengendalian. Pengendalian dibutuhkan agar gulma tidak menimbulkan kerugian secara ekonomis pada tanaman karet. Sebelum dilakukan pengendalian diperlukan analisis vegetasi gulma agar pengendalian yang dilakukan dapat efektif. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis vegetasi gulma di perkebunan karet yang meliputi identifikasi jenis gulma, perhitungan nisbah jumlah dominan (NJD) dan koefisien komunitas gulma. Penelitian ini dilaksanakan di divisi 1 kebun produksi dan percobaan Pusat Penelitian Karet Sembawa, Banyuasin pada bulan September 2021. Blok pengamatan adalah tanaman belum menghasilkan 2 karet dan tanaman menghasilkan 3 karet seluas 1 ha yang ditentukan secara purposive sampling. Analisis vegetasi yang digunakan adalah metode kuadrat dengan petak contoh 0,5 m x 0,5 m . Hasil identifikasi gulma pada areal TBM ditemukan lima jenis gulma dari golongan rerumputan, empat jenis gulma dari golongan berdaun lebar, dan satu jenis gulma dari golongan teki-tekian. Sedangkan, hasil identifikasi di areal TM menunjukkan terdapat lima jenis gulma dari golongan rerumputan, enam jenis dari golongan daun lebar dan satu jenis dari golongan teki-tekian. Pada areal TBM, gulma dominan adalah Borreria alata dengan NJD 17% sedangkan pada areal TBM gulma dominan adalah Cynodon dactylon dengan NJD 24,94%. Nilai koefisien komunitas TM-TBM sebesar 31,67% yang menunjukkan komunitas gulma di areal TM dan TBM berbeda nyata. Penelitian ini diharapkan bisa menjadi pertimbangan sebelum melakukan pengendalian gulma sesuai umur tanaman karet dan spesifik sesuai jenis gulma dengan cara kimiawi, mekanis atau kombinasi keduanya.