Andrew Mittelman is Director, Eco-Logic Consulting,
which provides conservation and sustainable
resource management consultancy services in Asia.
He is special lecturer on community-based sustainable
resource management at the Department of Agricultural
Extension and Community Development, Chiang Mai
University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
An agro- and community forestry project encouraged farmers' interest in teak planting as a means of reversing local environmental and economic decline.
With declining supplies of tropical timber from natural forests, many countries are encouraging the development of new sources of tropical timber through plantation and farm forestry production.
From 1990 to 1996, Save the Children/US implemented an agro- and com-munity forestry project in Thailand which facilitated on-farm production of teak (Tectona grandis) by smallholders. The project area, comprising two districts of Nakhon Sawan Province, lower northern Thailand, had experi-enced severe deforestation and land degradation as a result of two decades of uncontrolled resource exploitation. The project, supported by a grant from the Government of the Netherlands, aimed at integrating local economic devel-opment with environmental reha-bilitation.
Teak is native to a wide area of northern Thailand; the project area is located at the southern extremity of the natural range of teak in the country. Prior to commercial logging between 1965 and 1980, the project's two districts, Phai Sali and Lat Yao, were extensively forested with mixed stands of teak and dipterocarp species. At present, however, not a single natural teak stem is left standing in Phai Sali. Around 1 000 ha of mixed teak-dipterocarp forests remain in Mae Wong National Park in Lat Yao.1
Teak is suitable for small-scale planting because of its high value, relatively fast growth and ease of cultivation. Its market value has increased rapidly with Thailand's 1989 logging ban and dwindling regional supplies. These factors are appreciated even among poor farmers.
However, most small-scale farmers in Thailand never considered the potential benefits of planting teak on their farms. Their lack of interest is explained mainly by two factors: their need for short-term economic returns, and forestry laws that severely restrict the harvest and transport of protected species. Acting as an intermediary, Save the Children's agro- and community forestry project - entitled by its local participant-designers "the Rural Environment and Economic Revitalization Project" - encouraged teak planting and facilitated arrangements for small-farm teak planting and harvest satisfactory to both forestry officials and farmers.
Access to quality planting stock was extremely limited at the farm level. The project provided farmers with inexpensive (US$0.20) sprouted root cuttings obtained from the Thai Royal Forest Department. Between 1992 and 1996, nearly 100 000 teak trees were planted on farms and public lands in 40 communities in the two project districts.
1 With the World Heritage Site Huay Kha Khaeng - Thung Yai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary, Mae Wong National Park comprises a portion of Thailand's extensive Western Forest Complex (adjacent to the national boundary with Myanmar). The Western Forest Complex is the largest area of intact forest remaining in Thailand.
The long maturation period required for hardwood trees to reach commercially harvestable size was a significant deterrent to poor farmers. Most farmers in the area were focused on obtaining short- to medium-term return on their efforts, and they were reluctant to devote limited land to crops that promised financial profitability only after ten years. Save the Children encouraged teak planting by drawing attention to its potential as part of a medium- and long-term income strategy that would not sacrifice short-term activities. In farm forestry, the long-term benefits of teak can be combined with the shorter-term income benefits of annual crops, fruit-trees and fast-growing multipurpose tree species. Shade from the canopy of scattered teak trees need not interfere with light-demanding crops, making teak a reasonable can-didate for intercropping. Teak is also amenable to planting in otherwise underutilized farm niches such as field boundaries and home gardens.
The second major constraint to smallholder teak planting in Thailand is related to national forest laws governing the harvest, transport and marketing of protected species, which make it extremely difficult for farmers to harvest and sell teak trees legally once they attain marketable size. While these laws aim to protect against the possibility that timber from natural forests could be claimed to be of farm origin, they are a significant disincentive to on-farm teak cultivation.
Teak is listed officially as a protected species. At present, commercial harvest of teak from natural forests is prohibited. Special permission to harvest and transport teak must be obtained from the Thai Royal Forest Department. When such permission is not obtained, harvest is illegal. Farmers and transporters caught in contradiction of forestry laws can be fined heavily and incarcerated.
Because of staff limitations the Forest Department has not been able to handle the administrative complexities of tracking small, scattered, farm-grown hardwood trees. The increasing application of geographic information systems (GIS) by Royal Thai Government agencies should significantly alleviate this constraint. Even so, widespread reports of heavy "informal taxes" levied on teak harvest and transport reinforce the impression among the majority of Thai farmers that devoting even a limited area of their smallholdings to teak planting is impractical and unprofitable.
Larger-scale and better-connected plantation owners seem to be able to overcome these difficulties more successfully. Thai urban investors have increasingly capitalized on the relatively low price of rainfed uplands by purchasing them and converting them to teak plantations ranging in size from 5 to 100 ha, reinforcing the pronounced gap between rich and poor farmers in
Thailand.
Project staff intervened on farmers' behalf with the Thai Royal Forest Department to overcome the legal and related perceived constraints obstructing small-scale teak planting on local farms.
First, the project team held discussions with the head of the Regional Forestry Office, Nakhon Sawan, and it was agreed that Royal Forest Department field officers would be employed to help map the areas where farmers planned to plant teak (or teak mixed with other species).
The project team then organized meetings in the project area with district forestry officers and local farmers to review agreed procedures for registering farm-planted teak. At these meetings the district forestry officers assured farmers that registered trees would be provided official Certificates of Permission for harvest and transport, at negligible cost (US$0.75 per tree).
Although staff limitations of the Royal Forest Department presented difficulties, registered maps with specific data on planting sites and number of trees were simple to prepare. The maps were officially stamped, and copies were filed with the District and Provincial Forestry Offices and with the teak farmers.
These procedures were repeated annually.
When teak is planted at 3 x 3 m spacing, intercropping with annual upland cash crops is still possible after six years of growth
- A. MITTELMAN
At present, teak trees ranging from three to six years of age are planted on approximately 150 ha of farm and community public land in the project districts. Approximately one-third of this area has been registered by the Regional Forestry Office.
Planting patterns include:
Participating families own between five and 3 000 trees. The average household planting is between 50 and 100 trees covering an area of about 0.05 ha. Many plantations incorporate annual crops, particularly sesame and mung bean; mung bean is incorporated as green manure to plantation soils prior to seed ripening. After six years at 3 x 3 m row spacing, annual crops have not yet been shaded out by the tree canopy.
Larger-scale plantation owners are primarily schoolteachers and health clinic workers. Because they earn salaries, they are not significantly dependent on agricultural income and can devote more land to slower-maturing tree crops. Most larger plantations are teak monocultures planted at 2 x 3 m row spacing. Since monoculture plantations have not been cleared of indigenous trees over 15 cm in diameter, the average initial stocking rate is thus 1 000 (rather than 1 600) teak stems per hectare. Close plant spacing is aimed at maximizing long-term income benefits (since more large trees are left standing after 20 years).
Most smaller plots are planted at 3 x 3 m between-row spacing and mixed with fast-growing multipurpose tree species and annual cash crops. Wider spacing makes annual intercropping possible over a longer time period. Smaller plantation owners aim to spread their income benefits more evenly and to maximize mid-term income for investments in farm and family (e.g. children's education expenses) development. They are willing to compromise longer-term income to achieve these objectives.
Four-year-old teak at 3 x 2 m row spacing; faster-growing native multipurpose tree species have been left standing
- A. MITTELMAN
The maximum age of teak planted in the project area is seven years. No trees have yet been harvested. Farmers, however, have already been approached by sales agents offering to buy their trees and sell them to veneer makers in nearby Petchabun Province. The Alternative Farmers Cooperative, established with project assistance and still operational, plans to explore direct marketing of teak trees to save the agent's fee.
The projected harvest and sales strategy involves thinning ten-year-old stands by cutting alternative rows or half the standing crop. Six-year-old trees have a diameter at breast height (DBH) ranging from 12 to 16 cm. (The differential is attributable to natural soil fertility, the use or absence of fertilizer, and variable seedling quality.) It is expected that by ten years of age teak stems will attain a DBH of 22 to 25 cm.
Based on an average price of US$71.62 per cubic metre for 30- to 49-cm sleepers (Forest Industry Organization of Thailand, 2000) it should be possible to sell one ten-year-old teak stem for between US$30 and $50 (average $40) and one 20-year-old teak stem for an average of US$80 (in current dollar terms). These projections are modest and are based on mean annual increments of 2 cm diameter and 12 m3 per hectare (FAO, 1995; TEAKNET, 1998). The Table projects the income expected from the sale of farm-planted teak from mixed and monocrop plantations. The projections are based on the assumption that half the trees in a given stand will be harvested at ten years, with the remainder harvested at age 20. For mixed plantations, the Table averages the estimated value of the other tree and crop components.
Registration of teak plantations has continued following formal closure of the project. Responsibility for carrying forward project-initiated activities has been assumed by the local community organization established during the project. This organization continues to operate with considerable effectiveness. Following project completion, several of its leaders were elected to the local subdistrict council. They now serve as sustainable resource management and development advisers with a focus on continuing and expanding project-initiated activities in the subdistrict and adjacent subdistricts, districts and provinces.
Projected net income for farm-planted monocrop and mixed-plantation teak compared with annual cash crop monoculture (in current US$/ha)a
Crop composition |
10-year incomeb (cumulative) |
20-year income (cumulative) |
Upland cash crops |
3 720 |
7 440 |
Mixed teak, multipurpose tree species and cash cropsc |
10 200d |
21 795e |
Teak monoculturef |
18 000g |
58 000h |
a Income projections are based on average mean annual increment (MAI) supported by local growth records for teak, and on modest pricing assumptions.
b Half of teak stems harvested after ten years.
c Calculated on the basis of 240 teak stems per hectare total.
d 120 teak stems at US$40 per stem = US$4 800. Additional income is from annual and fruit crop
production. (Low-end estimate accounts for wastage.)
e Total from teak alone (120 stems, average diameter 40 cm) is US$9 600.
f Calculated on the basis of 1 000 teak stems per hectare total.
g Based on assumed value of US$40 per stem (and 12 m3/ha MAI) with 10
percent wastage.
h 500 stems (final stocking rate) sold at an average price of US$80 per stem.
Teak is relatively simple to grow in comparison with other commercial hardwood species. Significant income benefits can be obtained even when it is sparsely interplanted among short-term cash crops.
Given the growing demand for teak wood and the likelihood that natural forest sources will soon be unable to meet it, governments should support teak planting on small farms and plantations where it is viable. In some countries, small farm owners' reluctance to plant long-duration crops has been addressed by national agricultural loan programmes which enable farmers to obtain credit with long grace periods before the principal becomes due. Loans of this kind compensate for income deferred until longer-term investments begin to become profitable. National forestry laws and farm loan support policies should be carefully reviewed and adapted accordingly. In addition, legal constraints to small-scale production of teak and other commercial species should be eliminated.
Bibliography
FAO. 1995. Forest resources assessment 1990 - tropical forest plantation resources. FAO Forestry Paper No. 128. Rome.
Forest Industry Organization of Thailand. 2000. List for plantation grown teak. Bangkok, Thailand.
TEAKNET. 1998. Teak for the future. Proceedings of the Second Regional Seminar on Teak, Yangon, Myanmar, 29 May - 3 June 1995, p. 105-121. Bangkok, Thailand, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
