Assessing the performance of a new gum Arabic harvesting tool through the insight of gum producers in the gum belt of Sudan

Gum Arabic is the most important non-wood forest product of Sudan, and therefore use of a sustainable harvesting tool can significantly improve its gum quality. We conducted a study in North and West Kordofan of Sudan to assess the performance, use, and efficiency of the newly designed harvesting tool, and to understand the level of its adoption by the gum Arabic producers. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, and by group discussion involving 44 trained gum producers by a purposive selection method. Besides, we conducted another field experiment to understand the pattern of gum falling (in and out) of the new harvesting tool during collection. Descriptive statistics were applied using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The findings of the study showed that 72.7% of respondents were happy while using the new harvesting tool, and 95.5% stated that the tool was well performed. Further, 59.1% of respondents stated that the new harvesting tool is much better than old tools and as many as 61.4% of respondents indicated that the new tool can harvest all gums in a tree. Additionally, 63.6% of the respondents mentioned it was more efficient than the traditional tools. Likewise, 88.6% of respondents stated that the new harvesting tool improved safety. Further, the results indicated a significant correlation (p ≤ 0.01) between nodules fall in harvesting tool and picking time, as well as between picking time and number of branches. The overall results indicated that the new harvesting tool is innovative in terms of ensuring safety, and reducing collection time while improving gum quality. The research recommends the replacement of the traditional tools with this new harvesting tool for sustainable gum Arabic harvesting in Sudan.