Teak–cattle production tradeoffs for Panama Canal Watershed small scale producers

Abstract

Reforestation and forest conservation are important issues in the Panama Canal Watershed (PCW). Uncertainty remains about relative net benefits of profit-maximizing timber rotations compared to the net present value of incumbent land uses such as cattle ranching. The scientific and popular literatures have displayed enthusiasm for teak (Tectona grandis) and native species plantations. We estimate a realistic yield model for teak, an exotic tree species, based on growth data from actual small scale landholders who were incentivized to convert lands to teak plantations. We use a suite of well fit yield models to solve for the optimal Faustmann rotation and compute the net present value (NPV) of a teak plantation to a private land manager as a starting point for understanding land-use patterns. We compare the NPV from forestry to cattle and find that site characteristics, discount rates, and market prices are all important factors in influencing the land manager's decision to switch from cattle ranching to plantation forestry. We find that traditional cattle ranching is economically competitive, in terms of NPV, with and may often outperform teak plantations within the PCW. This result is robust to the teak yield model selected.

Growth and Yield Models for Teak Planted as Living Fences in Coastal Ecuador

“…Tewari et al [20] obtained similar results for calculating volumes of teak grown in India. Consideration of heteroscedastic conditions provided superior results to those obtained for teak in earlier studies [8,44,45,49,50]. These authors used polynomial methods (classic minimum squares methods) and non-linear regression techniques (Marquard's method) to establish the volume of teak and selected the best fit volume models (Schumacher-Hall) in accordance with statistics such as the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) and the statistical significance of the estimated parameters, without considering heteroscedastic conditions.…”

“…Griess and Knoke [51] calculated a yield of 250 m 3 ha −1 at 30 years. Quintero et al [52] reported volume yields between 193 -337 m 3 ha −1 for teak in Colombia at 60 years, and Stefanski et al [50] presented yields of 67.5-88.6 m 3 ha −1 at 30 years. The MAI for the best SI in the study area was 15.3 m 3 ha −1 year −1 at an age of 15 years for the SPS and a density of 160 trees ha −1 .…”

Litter Traits of Native and Non-Native Tropical Trees Influence Soil Carbon Dynamics in Timber Plantations in Panama

“…In Panama, Tectona plantations represent 76% of the timber trees planted between 1992 and 2002 [5]. However, Tectona does not grow particularly well on the acidic clay soils typical of many areas of Panama, including around the Panama Canal Watershed [6]. This is of concern because the failure of commercial reforestation projects not only reduces the return on investments by landowners but can also have negative consequences for overall ecosystem function.…”

Pattern of Integrated System of Smallholder Beef Cattle Central in Tegal Regency

“…Integrated systems is widely used by smallholder (Herrero et al, 2014;Riedel et al, 2014) by utilizing the potential of surrounding natural resources as the carrying capacity in the development of beef cattle enterprise (Vanlauwe et al, 2014). For example, forests and crops provide linkages interaction with cattle (Peyraud et al, 2014;Stefanski et al, 2015).…”

“…The key to success in the development of beef cattle enterprise is the competence of farmers in utilizing natural resources optimally (Dossa et al, 2015). For example, the utilization of natural resources as the carrying capacity of livestock provides feed for livestock thus forming a pattern of integration between cattle enterprise with agriculture and forests (Peyraud et al, 2014;Stefanski et al, 2015). Pattern of integration is expected to improve the cattle enterprise that operated.…”