Agriculture and Environment: Wood Pulp
Better Management Practices: Reduce Agrochemical Use
Several ways have been identified to reduce the use of agrochemicals in the pulp industry.
Often input use can be reduced relatively simply. The most important way plantations can reduce input use is to maintain organic matter on the surface of the land, which acts as a barrier to weed growth, holds moisture in the soil, and improves plant health.In addition, as the surface material decomposes it builds up levels of organic matter within the soil, which increases the soil's ability to retain nutrients and water. By minimizing the leaching of nutrients, soil organic matter can reduce the need for fertilizers.
Many plantation pulp companies are beginning to consider the soil an asset that must be not only conserved but also maintained. For that reason, they should invest in protecting the soil. They could do this in a number of ways that have been discussed above. Another way would be to invest in science and dedicated laboratories to develop management techniques to monitor and improve soils.
Finally, there is far too little information exchanged between companies; considerably money is invested in reinventing the wheel, rather than in replicating practices already known to improve overall soil health.
Some of the more progressive companies now use spotters to determine if there are specific disease or pest issues. The data is collected, stored, and recalled by quadrant. It is used as the basis for deciding whether pests or diseases have reached a point that requires chemical control. As a result, interventions can be used only where needed rather than for the entire plantation or prophylactically through the life of the plantation.
Over time, managers can anticipate problems in areas that are more susceptible to pests and diseases. If such patterns persist over time, managers have sufficient information to retire them if operational costs exceed revenues. During plantation establishment, herbicides tend to be used only on the areas directly adjacent to the seedlings, and then only as needed.
Watering huge plantations is expensive in terms of labour, equipment, and volume of water used, so there are strong economic incentives to avoid watering. In the past, many plantations were forced to water their trees once or more after they were planted and additionally during times of drought. However, most companies find that if they plant trees at the beginning of the rainy season, they no longer have to water by hand or set up expensive and wasteful irrigation systems.
