Abstract: |
The area of planted teak forests is estimated to be 4,346 million ha, of which 83% is in Asia (Kollert and Cherubini
2012). In Indonesia, most teak plantations are on Java, where the largest grower, Perum Perhutani, a state-owned forest enterprise, manages 2,442,101 ha of teak plantation (Perhutani 2010).
In addition to Perum Perhutani, there are approximately 1.2 million ha of smallholders’ plantations in Indonesia that primarily produce teak (Nawir et al. 2007). Smallholding
plantations rarely use improved germplasm or benefit from silvicultural management such as fertilizer
application, weeding, thinning and pruning. Smallholders’
teak is different from long-rotation industrial plantations that benefit from professional management, smallholders’ logs are shorter, have smaller diameter, less clear wood, more knots, and obtain lower prices (Roshetko and Manurung 2009). Despite these shortcomings,
smallholding teak plantations are an important
source of wood for many teak manufacturers and retailers in Indonesia. |
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