Income from gmelina tree plantation can be tripled

A technology that can triple a tree grower’s income from gmelina plantation has been developed.

Credit for the development of the "coppicing gmelina technology" goes to the Los Baños-based Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (DENR-ERDB).

The technology is a cost-saving technique that can considerably increase the income of gmelina growers and result in bigger trees that can sequester (capture) a higher amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Coppicing is the cutting of trees and shrubs at the base to allow vigorous regrowth and a sustainable supply of timber for future generations.

Not all trees are suitable for coppicing, pointed out ERDB. Gmelina, however, showed positive response to the technique.

"Gmelina plantation owners used to spend money to eliminate regrowths before replanting. With coppicing, they can save costs for these activities since new trees will be allowed to grow from the regrowths," explained ERDB Director Celso P. Diaz.

Dr. Enriqueta Perino, project leader of the research on coppicing of gmelina, also said: "One month after cutting the trees, the gmelina stumps can produce several coppices. Proper thinning of coppices is the key to this technology."

For timber production, however, only the biggest, most straight, vigorous and defect-free stem should be left growing among the rest of the coppices to attain big stem diameter, Perino advised.

She also averred: "The coppiced tree can capture a higher amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere since they grow faster and accumulate higher biomass which stores carbon, thus making the environment cooler."– RAF