Mahogany Tree Plantation
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-coloured hardwood. Mahogany has a generally straight grain and is usually free of voids and pockets. It has a reddish-brown color, which darkens over time, and displays a reddish sheen when polished. It has excellent workability, and is very durable. Historically, the tree's girth allowed for wide boards from traditional mahogany species. These properties make it a favourable wood for crafting cabinets and furniture. Philippine mahogany, aka lauan, is the common name for a wood yielded by some species of the genus Shorea, or perhaps more accurately the name for a group of woods. These are medium density woods, with rather favorable properties, but they are not a mahogany, nor are they comparable in quality. It is not necessarily imported from the Philippines, nor is it limited to species which occur in the Philippines.
The US name of lauan is derived from a Philippine name, which refers to dipterocarp timbers in general. The import into the US is properly known as "red lauan", but the adjective tends to be dropped. The name lauan is sometimes also used for plywood, although strictly speaking this tends to consist of a mixture of woods of any species from the same general area. Such plywood is more properly known as Mixed Hardwood Ply.
In the Pampanga Agricultural College, they have also Mahogany Tree Plantation. It was established by their forestry and agriculture students during 1993. September 11, 2010 the Provincial Government of Pampanga led the tree planting of some 10,000 mahogany trees in Barangay San Juan Bano, this town over the weekend. The activity was done in cooperation with the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PamCham) and the Philippine Army's 703rd Infantry Brigade. This plantation can help to manage the microclimate in Pampanga.
BAMBOO PLANTATION
Bamboo, used to be called the poor mans’ lumber, is considered today by many bamboo enthusiasts as the “green gold.” It is growing especially in the developed world because the giant grass is now being known as a green product for being cultivated in several countries in Asia and therefore, renewable.One remarkable competitive advantage of bamboo over other construction materials is its astounding reproduction rate. By the way, bamboo with an estimated 1,200 species worldwide is a grass not a tree. Many do not know that some species of bamboo can grow up to 3.3 feet a day. In fact, some varieties of bamboo reach heights of more than 100 feet. (Manila Bulletin- June 18, 2010).
Our FRM 100 class conduct an educational field trip last September 11, 2010 at the Pampanga Agricultural College (PAC). It was stated that the said college and the provincial leaders and representatives of the private sector created the first Pampanga Bamboo Development Council (PBDC) in order to address the need to propagate, promote and develop the national bamboo program. The objective to the said council is to advocate for a sustainable environment and livelihood in Pampanga throughout the development and propagation of bamboo as a source of food and commercial products. Here in the Philippines we are still using bamboo basically for craft items and unbelievably the once considered poor man’s timber has been transformed into super strong and durable construction materials as: Flooring (tiles); structural components (like beams, posts and frames); boards (sawali boards) and even architectural and anterior material (like jambs, paneling and laminate).
This project will serves not just as a catalyst for global warming and its vegetation help absorb carbon dioxide, but it will also provide livelihood to Kapamapangans like the production of furniture, crops and paper and even helps the environment against deforestation, erosion and flooding.
JATHROPA PLANTATION
Did you know that Jathropa can give us biodiesel?
Jatropha oil is vegetable oil produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas, a plant that can grow in marginal lands and common lands. When jatropha seeds are crushed, the resulting jatropha oil can be processed to produce a high-quality biodiesel that can be used in a standard diesel car, while the residue can also be processed and used as biomass feedstock to power electricity plants or used as fertilizer it contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The plant may yield more than four times as much fuel per hectare as soybean, and more than ten times that of corn. A hectare of jatropha has been claimed to produce 1,892 litres of fuel. However, as it has not yet been domesticated or improved by plant breeders, yields are variable.
Myanmar is also actively pursuing the use of jatropha oil. On 15 December 2005, head of state, Senior General Than Shwe, said “the States and Divisions concerned are to put 50,000 acres (200 km²) under the physic nut plants [Jatropha] each within three years totalling 700,000 acres (2,800 km²) during the period”. On the occasion of Myanmar’s Peasant Day 2006, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Snr Gen Than Shwe described in his a message that “For energy sector which is an essential role in transforming industrial agriculture system, the Government is encouraging for cultivation of physic nut plants nationwide and the technical know how that can refine physic nuts to biodiesel has also identified.” He would like to urge peasants to cultivate physic nut plants on a commercial scale with major aims for emergence of industrial agriculture system, for fulfilling rural electricity supply and energy needs, for supporting rural areas development and import substitute economy.
Now in the philippines we also have Jathropa plantation for producing biodiesel. Last September 11, 2010 the class of FRM 100 (Introduction to Forest Resources Management), we held our fieldtrip at Pampanga Agricultural College. On the overview of Mt.Arayat we saw their Jathropa plantation. This plantation was the project of CHED. And Mr. Darwin Cotaan, our speaker discussed about the importance of Jathropa in the Philippines and how they develop the plantation. The location was suited for planting Jathropa because it grow on marginal and common lands. This plantation is very helpful in the Philippines because we’re always experiencing oil price hike and shortage of fuel products. I hope this kind of project will be much bigger and larger in the whole Philippines.
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