poplar plantation on agricultural land, want to know rotation years, buyer and realistic income per acre
3 Answers
Poplar is a well established agroforestry tree in the north Indian plains, mainly sold to the plywood and matchstick industry. It is a relatively short rotation tree, usually harvested in about 5 to 7 years. A big advantage is that poplar is deciduous and sheds leaves in winter, so you can grow rabi crops like wheat between the rows during the season, which keeps annual income coming. Per acre timber income is a wide range depending on number of trees, girth, survival and the plywood mill rate at sale, and rates have gone up and down over the years, so do not assume past high prices will repeat. Use good quality clonal Entry Point Activity stock suited to your area. Plant along boundaries or in block or paired rows depending on your intercropping plan, and confirm current plywood mill demand and rates near you before planting a large area.
Poplar with wheat in between worked well for me. I got the grain income every rabi and the trees on top after 6 years. But watch the plywood rate, it fell badly one year and growers were upset.
Use good clones from a known source. Cheap unknown plants gave my neighbour poor uneven growth and the mill paid less for thin logs.