Grow and incorporate cover crops (such as Pueraria, Calopogonium, Centrosema) to protect the soil. For the first 4–5 years, banana, pineapple, tuber crops, ginger, turmeric, vegetables and cocoa can be intercropped. Mulch basins with dry leaves, cuttings or straw; protect young plants from strong sun with plaited coconut-leaf guards and by white-washing brown stem parts. Induce branching at 2.5–3 m by the leaf-fold or leaf-cap method.
Pending expert review
Source
Crop Production Guide – Horticulture Crops 2020 (Directorate of Horticulture and Plantation Crops, Tamil Nadu & Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU)), Rubber – After cultivation; intercrops; mulching; branch induction, pp. 208–209
