Tag Archives: planting
MSU Planting Poplars To Generate Biomass For Power
Updated 3:41 pm, Sunday, June 16, 2013 EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University has planted the first of six plots of poplar trees as part of an initiative to generate power from renewable sources. The 10-acre plots will grow fuel for the university’s T.B. Simon Power Plant, the East Lansing schoolannounced this month. The trees will be harvested, chipped and burned as an alternative to coal, said Michigan State spokeswoman Holly Whetstone. She said the university adopted an energy transition plan last year that includes spending on sustainable energy research and development. The Simon Power Plant now produces about 1.7 percent of its energy from untreated wood chips, and only one of four boilers now can burn wood chips. “Through a process called torrefaction, MSU scientists can create a material … that is suitable for boilers,” Whetstone said in a posting on the university’s website. “Torrefaction occurs when a plant material is roasted to eliminate moisture and unstable chemicals. These chemicals can then be burned to power the process. The result is a concentrated material that can be transported and burned like coal.” About 300 tons of the torrefied biomass will be pulverized in the power plant’s burners in 2013, the university said. “If test burns are successful, torrefied biomass will replace a fraction of MSU’s coal use as early as 2014,” Whetstone said. Online: Biomass project: [url=”http://bit.ly/12Pp6q8″] http://bit.ly/12Pp6q8 Continue reading
Liquid cash or solid Investment? Trees Offer New Approach For Cameroon’s Farmers
Source: Thu, 23 May 2013 12:31 PM Author: Valerie Gwinner Tree planting by smallholder farmers in Cameroon could boost on-farm timber production and help avert forest destruction. Photo courtesy of Ollivier Girard/CIFOR. Smallholder farmers in Cameroon fell the trees in their fields simply to raise quick cash – but the practice could point to a new and sustainable way to make a living, according to forestry researchers. “What farmers don’t realize is that, collectively, they are now the biggest suppliers of the domestic timber market,” said Valentina Robiglio, lead author of a collaborative study by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins (ASB) that looked at the ways Cameroonians integrate agriculture and small-scale logging. In selling timber from the trees in their fields, farmers are mainly just being opportunistic, despite having a good position in the value chain, Robiglio noted. “They may sell several trees each year to make some extra money, to pay school fees, for example,” she said. “But the farmers do not consider trees as an investment or resource that needs to be managed sustainably.” The domestic timber market in Cameroon is booming. Demand nearly tripled over the past decade, far outpacing the supply from the formal sector. Indeed, 80 percent of the timber traded in the capital city, Yaoundé, comes from the informal sector, according to a 2011 report by the present study’s co-authors, CIFOR scientists Paolo Cerutti and Guillaume Lescuyer . Most of this timber is sourced from the country’s central region, where farmers practice shifting cultivation: after clearing land, they grow staple or cash crops for a short period, then leave the land to fallow for several years so that it can recover its fertility. “Farmers don’t see themselves as timber producers and don’t realize that they could negotiate higher prices for their timber,” Robiglio explained. “It’s as if the farmers are not only supplying but also subsidizing the internal market.” The timber used to supply domestic demand comes from the same small range of tree species also used by large-scale logging companies for the export market, but it is not kiln dried, it is roughly cut and only follows broad dimensional standards. Although demand is high now, further research is needed to determine what might happen if farmers negotiated better prices for their timber, how elastic demand would be or how price increases might affect demand for particular tree species and the preservation of their natural diversity. The study by Robiglio, Lescuyer and Cerutti provides a detailed analysis of timber stocks and timber harvesting according to different land uses within the region’s shifting cultivation system. Their findings indicate that most of the trees are cut from annual crop fields (43%) and fallows (30.5%), with a smaller proportion (13%) coming from cocoa agroforests. Central Cameroon is a major region for cocoa production, which is expanding due to rising cocoa prices and government investments aimed at doubling national production by 2015. The types and abundance of trees also vary by land use: shade trees are more prevalent in cocoa agroforests, and multiple-use trees – those that can supply food, fuel, fabric and more – dominate in fallow and agricultural areas. “The study confirms how smallholders manage different systems with multiple livelihood strategies and sources of income,” Robiglio said. “It points to the importance of not looking at logging and timber management through a sectorial approach, but rather understanding how the agricultural and timber systems are integrated.” Ninety percent of the farmers interviewed for the study reported a decline in the number of trees. This trend is likely to accelerate with agricultural expansion and intensification, the introduction of crops that require more sunlight and the wider use of chainsaws to clear land. Nevertheless, the researchers found that farmers are interested in planting and managing trees on deforested land. “The situation is ripe for strategies that could further encourage farmers to shift from opportunistic exploitation to a type of timber management that could sustain their livelihoods on the long term,” said Cerutti. Tree planting and enrichment schemes could boost on-farm timber production and help avert deforestation, the authors suggest – but this would mean giving farmers better access to technologies such as improved seed, and teaching them how to produce seedlings for high-demand species or to domesticate local ones more effectively. New policy options also are needed to overcome the barriers to on-farm timber production. “Trees take many years to reach maturity, so farmers are reluctant to invest in them if they’re not sure they’ll be able to claim the benefits,” Cerutti said. If farmers are to get the most from their forest resources, regulations must cross the boundary between the forestry and agricultural sectors to address land tenure, logging rights and control over tree resources, the researchers argue. Given the Cameroonian government’s strong support for agricultural development, measures to combine agriculture and timber production could build on the close association between small-scale logging and agricultural land use. “Smallholder farmers should be targeted as the main actors in an integrated system that is not only more sustainable but could also be useful for informing on-farm timber initiatives in other countries,” Robiglio said. Continue reading
Agarwood Planting Popular in HK
2013-05-01 20:08:48 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Wang Wei A boom in demand for incense has encouraged some farmers near Hong Kong to plant the trees in hopes that one day they may be rewarded with valuable agarwood. A bracelet made of valuable agarwood. [Photo: findart.com.cn] A boom in demand for incense has encouraged some farmers near Hong Kong to plant the trees in hopes that one day they may be rewarded with valuable agarwood. But it is an occupation only for the patient, as the trees take 13 years to produce wood suitable for incense. Incense is popular across much of Asia and is burned in private homes and temples. The unique aroma is created when a fungus infects aquilaria trees, resulting in a darkening of the wood, which is called agarwood. Joey Yuen is manager of Wing Lee Sandalwood, which makes incense in Hong Kong. “Agarwood is formed when the tree is hurt. For example, it is attacked by insects, lightning or it is infected with bacteria. The tree will produce some substance to heal the wound. Some oil will then appear in the wound, and that is the agarwood.” Agarwood is rare and expensive because only 10 percent of the naturally growing incense trees are attacked by the right kind of fungus, and it can take 20 years for the agarwood to develop. Joey Yuen says increasing demand for incense in East Asia has driven up the price of Agarwood to an all-time high. “As agarwood became popular, many people in Mainland China would come over to log the trees and sell them.” The stocks in this shop were harvested a number of decades ago, mostly in Vietnam, which is said to produce the best agarwood. Agarwood is measured using the traditional Chinese unit of weight, the catty. A high quality catty, that’s about 600 grams of incense sticks, may fetch thousands of dollars. A piece of wood with high agarwood content is heavier. The price of incense sticks made of agarwood range from 260 to 10,000 U.S. dollars per catty. Hong Kong has long been famous for producing incense. Villagers would plant fruit and aquilaria trees, from which agarwood is extracted, around their communities, and these became known as fung shui woodland. Professor Jim Chi Yung from the University of Hong Kong says that originally around 60 to 80 percent of fung shui woodland consisted of incense trees. “Only about 10 percent of the trees have this fungal invasion; hence, the development of high prices for agarwood. So when these so-called agarwood hunters went into the forest, they would indiscriminately chop down the trees.” Chan Koon Wing has been growing and harvesting incense trees along with his grandfather since childhood. Four years ago, Chan opened an incense tree farm, and has now planted around 10,000 incense trees. Collectors around the world are seeing this as an investment opportunity, some have even started their own incense trees farms. Although his trees cannot be harvested yet, Chan says prices will depend on the quality of the agarwood and normally range from six to 260 U.S. dollars per gram. He says the best type can cost as much as 1,000 U.S. dollars. But it is a slow process. “It’s like planting a normal tree. When it gets to eight years you have to hurt the tree to force it to produce oil. Then you have to wait another five years for the oil to become good quality, so it can be harvested.” Despite the growth in tree farms such as Chan’s, they are unlikely to satisfy the growing demand for agarwood. In 2007, the Vietnam Chemical Technology Institute published a study suggesting that the supply of agarwood oil could only satisfy 40 percent of demand. With natural supplies diminishing and farmed products requiring many years before they are ready to harvest demand will continue to outstrip supply. For CRI, I am Li Dong. Continue reading
