Site management and productivity in tropical plantation forests: progress report: workshop proceedings 7-11 December 1999, Kerala, India

These proceedings present preliminary results of the CIFOR project ‘Site Management and Productivity in Tropical Plantations”. They include papers from the third workshop of project partners held in Kerala, India, in December 1999. These papers complement those presented at a workshop in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa in February 1998, which described the experimental basis for the research and initial measurements. The research, which is in progress at 14 sites in seven countries, focuses on inter-rotation management. Good management of this phase, between harvesting and tree establishment in the next rotation, is critical for the future outcome of plantations. There is the potential for physical and chemical soil degradation, but also opportunities to remedy past mistakes and introduce sound technology to improve long-term soil management. Although the species and the soil problems vary according to local conditions, all the experiments are designed to provide knowledge that will benefit both the specific sites and the understanding of underlying processes of plantation productivity.