A six-year old plantation of drought-resistant Teak trees (Tectona grandis) (Otto Richard Kawawa)
Drought-tolerant Teak (Tectona grandis) is suitable for planting in semi-arid areas. In northern Uganda, farmers are establishing plantations of Teak for timber production as opposed to other plantation species like Pines and clonal Eucalyptus.
Seeds are raised in pots, small seedling containers in which they grow into seedlings. When the rains start, usually around April, or September, the seedlings are planted out, with 1,100 seedlings planted per hectare. Teak trees are planted at a spacing of 3 x 3 meters and thinned at 5 and 9 years to retain approximately 450 trees per hectare. To ensure that the timber produced from the trees does not have knots, pruning is done to remove lower branches as the tree grows. Pruning is normally done starting at the age of 3 years. Like most tree planting projects, framers tend to plan Teak on less productive land, leaving the fertile parts of their land for food and other high-value cash crops.
The cost of establishing a Teak plantations is high in the first 2-3 years but reduces significantly after first thinning. The cost of weeding can be reduced by spot-weeding of seedlings up to age 3 years, after which slashing or spraying with herbicides (usually Round-up) is used for weed control. Wood from thinning is also sold as firewood or construction poles to recover some the establishment costs. Shading of leave by Teak is heavy during the dry season and this causes a risk of fire. Therefore, fire control is done by establishing a fine-line, an open space of 6 meters to separate the plantation into compartments in order to restrict fire from spreading from one part to another part.
Farmers like Teak because it endures dry conditions and can provide high-quality timber. Although not exploited yet, these Teak plantations can be used for carbon trade and further improve the income of the farmer. What farmers do not like about Teak is that unlike several other specie where livestock can be integrated in the plantation, it is not possible for teak because it does not support undergrowth.
Localização: Padibe s/county Lamwo District, Northern, Uganda
Nº de sites de tecnologia analisados: Local único
Difusão da tecnologia: Uniformemente difundida numa área (approx. < 0,1 km2 (10 ha))
Data da implementação: 2012
Tipo de introdução
Especificações técnicas
Autor: Bernard Fungo
Seeds of Teack (Tectona grandis) are first raised in a nursery until they are 4 months old
Planting is done at the start of the rainy season (April or September) Spacing between trees is 3 x 3 meters Weeding is done by spot-weeding to reduce labour and soil disturbance Pruning is done starting at the age of 3 years Thinning is done at 5 and 9 years |
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| Especifique a entrada | Unidade | Quantidade | Custos por unidade (Uganda Shillings) | Custos totais por entrada (Uganda Shillings) | % dos custos arcados pelos usuários da terra |
| Mão-de-obra | |||||
| Raising seedlings in the nursry | Mandays | 120,0 | 5000,0 | 600000,0 | 100,0 |
| Land clearing | Acre | 1,0 | 200000,0 | 200000,0 | 100,0 |
| Planting | Acre | 1,0 | 200000,0 | 200000,0 | 100,0 |
| Equipamento | |||||
| Watering Cans | Number | 3,0 | 10000,0 | 30000,0 | 100,0 |
| Jerricans | Number | 5,0 | 8000,0 | 40000,0 | 100,0 |
| Material vegetal | |||||
| Seeds of Teak | kg | 1,0 | 100000,0 | 100000,0 | 100,0 |
| Material de construção | |||||
| Poles for the nursery | Number | 30,0 | 5000,0 | 150000,0 | 100,0 |
| Grass for shading the seedlings | Bundles | 10,0 | 10000,0 | 100000,0 | 100,0 |
| Custos totais para a implantação da tecnologia | 1'420'000.0 | ||||
| Especifique a entrada | Unidade | Quantidade | Custos por unidade (Uganda Shillings) | Custos totais por entrada (Uganda Shillings) | % dos custos arcados pelos usuários da terra |
| Mão-de-obra | |||||
| Weeding | Acre | 1,0 | 150000,0 | 150000,0 | 100,0 |
| Pruning | Acre | 1,0 | 200000,0 | 200000,0 | 100,0 |
| Thinning | Acre | 1,0 | 200000,0 | 200000,0 | 100,0 |
| Regular patrol for fire protection | Years | 15,0 | 600000,0 | 9000000,0 | 100,0 |
| Equipamento | |||||
| Hoes | Number | 5,0 | 15000,0 | 75000,0 | 100,0 |
| Pangas | Number | 5,0 | 8000,0 | 40000,0 | 100,0 |
| Pruning saws | Number | 5,0 | 20000,0 | 100000,0 | 100,0 |
| Custos totais para a manutenção da tecnologia | 9'765'000.0 | ||||
