Suffering from low prices, many rubber farmers have turned to oil palm. Some choose to call rubber the 'sunset industry'. Others, however, have given up hope in this one-time lucrative sector of Indonesia's economy - and justifiably so. Given the lacklustre market situation over recent years, especially the dismally low price of the commodity, many are not surprised by such a gloomy conclusion. In the past few years rubber, which used to be an important contributor to the country's revenue, has lostits shine to the more profitable palm oil - sometimes called a commodity prima donna. Many plantation companies have cut down their rubber trees and replaced them with oil palm. Even people working in natural rubber, such as tappers, began shifting to other jobs, becoming public transportation drivers or construction workers.
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