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Development of Forestry and Plantations in Argentina

Hugo Fassola

At the beginning of the 20th century the National Government of Argentina was the major forest land owner. In order to establish forestry in the country, technical and management criteria and studies on growth and yield applied to rotation age determination were carried on.

The work of M. Rothkugel (1916), a forester from Yale, in Patagonian Forests was foundational research in this field.  He established relationships between diameter and age for various species like Nothofagus dombeyii (Fig. 1), Nothofagus antartica, Nothofagus pumilio and Araucaria araucana. American forest management criteria were in used up to the end of II World War  (see attached figures at the bottom of the page).
 

Plantations in those times were not important, but in 1931 a yield and economicl study was published fo rthe first time, about forests located in Buenos Aires province. There Lebedeff (1931), a Russian forester, stated that income from a Eucaliptus viminalis plantation were greater than those for wheat cultivation. After the end of II World War foresters from Central Europe were employed at the National Forest Administration and under their supervision, management plans for native forest under federal authority, were performed.  Rotation length in those plans was based on maximum volume yield.

This process did not last long, from 1947 to 1955 approximately, because several national territories became provinces.  But the era was important because native technicians were introduced to growth and yield and forest economics studies. This body of foreign and national foresters became the base of the forest schools a few years later.

Meanwhile the policy of import substitution began to affect the forestry sector, especially with the need of long fiber for pulp and paper.  This led to a forest plantation program beginning during the 1960s, and continuing today.  However, from the 1990s, plantations became more integrated inot the open market economy, and less dpendent on government support and subsidies.  Currently,  the plantation resource of more than 1.1 million ha is the basis of a large forest industry.  Seventy percent of the plantation area is located in the Mesopotamia region of Argentina, which includes the provinces of Entre Ríos, Corrientes, and Misiones.

As the plantation program was based in tax reduction and later in subsidies, the forest authority established rotation for the species under cultivation, as can be seen in Table 1 (Barrera, 1987).
 

 
In 1988 on the basis of genetic improvement of Pinus taeda (Figure 2 & 3, attached below) and simulations with a growth model made by the forestry sector, the National Forest Institute allowed the forest owner to establish the rotation length. Although several studies of growth and yield were done during those years, trial plots with the new genetics materials allowed us to do projections in the 1990s.  Table 2 shows the best regime for Pinus taeda, origin Marion, selected by Kolln (1995) between different alternatives considering the highest internal rate of return (IRR) and net present value (NPV).
 
 

 
The main conclusions of this work established that shorter rotations (18 years) were best, and that early and intensive thinning improved profits of Pinus taeda plantations.

By that time decision making process of the forest managers became more complex, but three elements helped them. First, growth simulation models became available (Crechi et al. 1997a; Crechi et al. 1997b; Crechi et al. 1998). Second came the results of silvicultural trial plots of “direct saw logs regimes”, with the aim of obtaining pruned trees of larger D.B.H, proposed by New Zealand silviculturists (Fenton 1972), in Pinus spp. in Misiones and NE Corrientes (Fassola, 1992; Fassola &Allegranza, 1996) and the effect of s.e.d. on peeling logs yields and value (Henn et al. 1995), reinforced its adoption mainly in silvopastoral systems by small and medium size forest owners and cattle growers (Esquivel et al. 2004). Third, pulp and paper investors adopted rotation lengths for Pinus taeda of 14 years in NE Corrientes.

All these facts indicated that rotation length in conifers now is influenced by the product market target and that long run planning tools became important. In the future, genetic improvement of hybrids pines (Figure 2 & 3, attached) and clonal silviculture are expected to reduce the rotation length.

A similar situation could be described with Eucalyptus grandis. In the NE of Entre Ríos, maximization of NPV varied between 10 years for site quality I and 13.5 years for site quality III and IRR for the same situation varied with rotation lengths between 8 years and 12 years for pulp an low quality saw logs (Carpinetti et al. 1995). But in saw logs regimes, rotation length was higher, 18 years (Table 3).

Clonal silviculture is expected to reduce saw logs regimes down to 12 years old, with a mean D.B.H. of 45 cm (Forestadora Tapebicuá, pers. com. 2005), in the NE of Corrientes. Also in poles production, with an increasing demand due to high G.B.P. rates, rotation length could be reduce up to 5 years old with an I.R.R of 37 % (Ameijeiras & Di Giorgi 2005).
 
 
 

 
 
Cottonwood production also shows similar trends in the Parana’s river Delta and with Australian clones being introduced, starting a new period. Casaubón et al. (2001) established at 12 years old in a plantation of Populus deltoides cv. Catfish 2  with an initial stocking 625 s.p.ha a yield of m³/ha 322 at harvest.
 

Different paradigms have influenced the management of forest in Argentina, from the days when the federal state was the major forest land owner, up to now when forest production is based in plantations on private lands. Genetic improvement and silviculture management have continuously reduced the rotation length. But new demands of society, such as environmental impact and sustainability, must be taken in consideration. New powerful tools for long run planning based on an ecosystem view will be needed as well as traditional biometric and economic analyses.
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 

AMEIJEIRAS, M & DI GIORGI, F. 2005. Reunión Consorcio Forestal Corrientes Norte nº 147, “Garabí”, Parada 1, E. grandis clonal. 2005-12-15. Informe Inédito. Garabí, Corrientes. Pp 2
 
BARRERA, J. H. 1987. Estudio de la rentabilidad del cultivo de distintas especies forestales en diversas zonas del país. Convenio de Cooperación Instituto Forestal Nacional (IFONA)-Consejo Federal de Inversiones (CFI). Tomos I y II.
 
CARPINETI, L.A.; DALLA TEA, F.; GLADE, J.E.; MARCO, M. 1995. (Ed.). Manual para Productores de Eucaliptos de la Mesopotamia Argentina. Ministerio de Economía y Obras y Servicios Públicos. Secretaria de Agricultura Ganadería y Pesca. Buenos Aires. P. 162.
 
CASAUBON, E.A; GURINI, L.B.; CUETO, G.R. 2001. Diferente Calidad de estación en una plantación de Populus deltoides cv. Catfish 2 del bajo delta bonaerense del Río Paraná (Argentina). Investigación Agraria. Sistemas y Recursos Forestales. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA). Vol. 10 (2): 217-231. Madrid
 
CRECHI, H.; FASSOLA, H. E.; FRIEDL, R.. 1997 (a). Simulador Forestal. Sistema de simulación y crecimiento para especies forestales implantadas. Primera parte: Araucaria angustifolia. Manual de descripción técnica. Proyecto Cooperativo Simuladores de Crecimiento. EEA INTA Montecarlo-FCF. Pp. 15
 
CRECHI, H.; FASSOLA, H. E.; FRIEDL, R.. 1997 (b). Simulador forestal. Sistema de simulación y crecimiento para especies forestales implantadas. Segunda parte: Pinus taeda. Manual de descripción técnica. Proyecto Cooperativo Simuladores de Crecimiento. EEA INTA Montecarlo-FCF. Pp. 15
 
CRECHI, H.; FASSOLA, H. E.; FRIEDL, R.. 1998 Simulador Forestal. Sistema de simulación de producción y crecimiento para especies forestales implantadas. Pinus elliottii. Manual de descripción técnica. Programa Cooperativo Simulador de Crecimiento. EEA INTA Montecarlo-FCF. Pp. 15
 
ESQUIVEL, J.; FASSOLA, H. E.; LACORTE, S. M.; COLCOMBET, L.; CRECHI, E.; PACHAS, N; KELLER, E. 2004. Sistemas silvopastoriles – Una sólida alternativa de sustentabilidad social, económica y ambiental. Disponible en cd: Actas XI Jornadas Técnicas Forestales y Ambientales. Facultad de Cs. Forestales-UnaM- INTA. Eldorado. P11
 
FASSOLA, H.E. 1992. Regímenes silvícolas con producción. de madera libre de nudos en Pinus. elliottii, en la zona central de Corrientes. 1er. inf. de avance: el control del diámetro sobre muñones en 15 cm. Yvyraretá 3:28-62.
 
FASSOLA H. E, ALLEGRANZA D. 1996. Análisis de rentabilidad de una plantación de Pinus taeda Marion conducido bajo un régimen silvícola directo para aserrado. Informe Técnico 8. INTA EEA Montecarlo. Pp.5.
 
Fenton R. 1972.New approaches in softwood silviculture. Actas VII Congreso Forestal Mundial. II: 1568-1572. Buenos Aires.
 
HENN, L; WEBER, J.; FASSOLA, H.E. 1995. Relación entre variables descriptoras de rollizos de Pinus caribaea var. Hondurensis sin podar, sometidos a rebobinado, con los tiempos, el rendimiento y el valor de la producción. Actas VIII Jornadas Técnicas. La economía Forestal y el desarrollo sustentable. Rentabilidad de la empresa y el sector forestal en el contexto del Mercosur. Facultad de Cs. Forestales-UnaM. Eldorado P. 58-70
 
INTA MONTECARLO. 2005. Comportamiento a los 8 años de pinos subtropicales, tropicales e híbridos en el Alto Paraná. Informe interno. Unpublished. 4 pp.
 
KOLLN, R. F. 1995. Análisis financiero de la oportunidad e intensidad de raleos en plantaciones de Pinus taeda. Actas VIII Jornadas Técnicas. La economía Forestal y el desarrollo sustentable. Rentabilidad de la empresa y el sector forestal en el contexto del Mercosur. Facultad de Cs. Forestales-UNaM. Eldorado. P. 130-153.
 
LEVEDEFF, N. 1931. Importante estudio realizado por un técnico en un bosque de cultivo. Resultado favorable de las plantaciones como factor económico. Maderil IV(42) 11-16. Buenos Aires.
 
ROTHKUGEL, M. 1916. Los Bosques Patagónicos. Oficina de Bosques y Yerbales. Dirección General de Agricultura y defensa Agrícola. Ministerio de Agricultura. Buenos Aires. PP. 207
 
 

Posted:   21 April  2007