Industrial tree plantation in Luang Prabang goes well

VIENTIANE,21 MAY (KPL) - The promotion of tree plantation and non-timber forest production in Luang Prabang province tends to increase over the past five years, which is an outstanding work in the forest and agriculture sector.
More than 9,800 cubic metres of planted wood, valued at 11 billion kip, and 1,734 tonnes of non-timber forest products, worth 52 million kip, have been exported to overseas markets.
Over the past five years, trees have been grown on 20,777 hectares of the target 40,000 hectares of land, according to the latest figure of Luang Prabang’s Agriculture and Forest Service.
Of the above planted area, the plantations are divided into 5,929 ha of teak, 13,500 ha of rubber trees, 1,171 ha of eagle wood known as Ketsana, and 150 hectares of jatropha.
The non-timber forest product – hemp, is carpeted on a total area of 1,504 hectares in every district in this northern province.
Luang Prabang province also has 18 sapling nurseries throughout the province, six of which belong to the state, eight to local individuals and four to private investment companies.
On average, each nursery can turn out 24 million saplings, 6 million teak saplings, one million eagle wood saplings, 14 million rubber trees saplings, and 500,000 hemp saplings.
This sector generates income of 345 million kip for the Forest and Natural Resource Development Fund of Luang Prabang
province.