Rattan Harvest

Rattan ready for harvest will show special characteristics, such as yellow stems, fallen leaves, black or yellow-black thorns, and the midrib has come off and does not wrap the stem.

Harvesting rattan can be said to be quite difficult, because it requires skills to climb large trees where it propagates. In addition, rattan generally grows intertwined from one tree to another and adds to the difficulty level of harvesting.

Harvesting can also be done by pulling the stems down, cleaning the midrib of thorns, leaves and whips to get bare stems. However, this method carries the risk of uprooting the rattan and causing the plant to die.

To get good quality rattan, selective logging is needed. Harvesting is only carried out on stems that are old with the characteristics of leaf midribs that have dried and separated from the stems.

In single growing rattan, harvesting can be done after the age of 20 to 30 years. While in clumped rattan, harvesting is done after the age of 10 to 15 years with the next harvest distance of about 2 to 4 years.

Reference : https://rimbakita.com/rotan/