smallholder engagement with short-rotation industrial plantation forestry
TRANSCRIPT
Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham 1
Smallholder engagement with short-rotation industrial plantation forestry Daniel Mendham
Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham Introducing the FPOS DSS | Daniel Mendham 2
• Indonesia and other countries in SE Asia have ambitious plans to increase area and yield of forest plantations • For regional development and wealth creation
• To support the development of sustainable supply of feedstock for downstream value adding, including pulp and paper, and higher value options
• Profitable yields are essential to attract growers and keep them interested in growing pulpwood plantations • Lots of competing agribusiness options for
farmers
• Farmers have a track record of not achieving optimal yields
Background
Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham Introducing the FPOS DSS | Daniel Mendham 3
• Pathogens are becoming more prevalent in acacias – root rot and ceratocystis
• Most likely strategy will be a require change of species in some areas
• Smallholders have a track record of lower productivity (=productivity) • Less intensive management or lack of
information?
• Alternative land uses have significantly higher profitability in many instances • Need for a better value proposition for
farmers
Key threats to profitability of short rotation plantings
Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham Introducing the FPOS DSS | Daniel Mendham
ACIAR supports several research projects in SE Asia that aim to benefit smallholder farmers Including:
• FST 2009/051: Increasing productivity and profitability of Indonesian smallholder plantations
• FST 2006/087: Optimising silvicultural management and productivity of high-quality acacia plantations, especially for sawlogs (Vietnam)
• Sustainable Resources Assessment
• + many others
A strong history of projects with a high benefit:cost ratio
Understanding water, nutrient and carbon dynamics in tropical acacia plantations | Daniel Mendham 5
Understanding water, nutrient and carbon dynamics in tropical acacia plantations | Daniel Mendham 6
Site selection • Site selection critical for productivity
• Makruf Nurudin (PhD) studied the relationships between mineral soil characteristics and productivity of A. mangium in South Sumatra
• Productivity related to soil water holding capacity and drainage
High
productivity
Medium
productivity
Low
productivity
Rooting depth Deep Shallow, some
haematite
Shallow
Drainage Good Poor Poor
Colour Red Yellow-red Brown-yellow
Consistency firm Very firm Very firm
Structure Medium,
subangular
blocky
Strong
subangular
blocky
Strong
subangular
blocky
Understanding water, nutrient and carbon dynamics in tropical acacia plantations | Daniel Mendham 8
Sawlog management, Vietnam
ACIAR project FST/2006/087: Explores
optimal stocking density and soil nutrition
for Acacia hybrids
• Higher value plantations can be grown by
including sawlogs as part of the product
mix
• But need to manage risks: Disease, wind
susceptibility, longer rotations
Understanding water, nutrient and carbon dynamics in tropical acacia plantations | Daniel Mendham 9
• Review of scientific information from published studies and long-term experiments
• Independent analysis of company plantation inventory data to examine trends in space and time over successive rotations
Harwood and Nambiar: Review of the biophysical sustainability of short-rotation acacia and eucalypt plantations in SE Asia
10
0
13
25
38
50
1988 1992 1996 2000 2004
MA
I (m
3 h
a-1
y-1
)
Year of planting
First rotation
Second rotation
Mean productivity (Mean Annual Increment, MAI) of Acacia mangium for each planting year over first and second rotations. Total of 454 inventory plots from 3 sub-regions in Sumatra
• No evidence of systemic sustainability issues
• Growers have demonstrated an adaptive management approach to overcome major threats
• Examples of poor practice still evident in some areas: soil management, site preparation, weed control
Biophysical sustainability of short-rotation acacia and eucalypt plantations in SE Asia: Conclusions
11
Indonesia: a regional leader in
sustainable practices
Understanding water, nutrient and carbon dynamics in tropical acacia plantations | Daniel Mendham 12
Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham
Smallholder farmers: Target beneficiaries of ACIAR projects
• Forestry is a valuable part of the enterprise for many farmers
• Most forestry companies in Indonesia have an outgrower scheme
• Can be a very good mechanism to improve livelihoods in very poorly serviced areas
• Allows for short adoption pathway when it works well
• There is a need for some improvements to many schemes to ensure that farmers continue to be engaged
• Significant potential to increase sustainable wood supply
• Social science is important for helping us to understand the best mechanisms to deliver research to farmers
• Social situation is different in almost every location!
Indonesia acacia project | Daniel Mendham Introducing the FPOS DSS | Daniel Mendham
Summary
• ACIAR projects provide a valuable mechanism to push the frontier of science,
• In a way that is beneficial to farmers
• Practical outcomes are important
• Smallholder farmers are the target beneficiaries
• Many ways for communities to benefit from commercial forestry
Understanding water, nutrient and carbon dynamics in tropical acacia plantations | Daniel Mendham
Acknowledgements