Energy Plantation: Planting Calliandra and Gliricidia?

Each plant has an optimum location for its growth. Although it can grow if it is not at its optimum location, the results are not as good as the optimum location. Plants that are planted in their optimal locations will have great expectations for achieving optimal results, both wood, fruit, flowers and so on. When planting tea, apples, or edelweiss in the lowlands or even on the sea coast it is almost impossible to get the optimum results, maybe even wither and die. The selection of the best location that matches the characteristics of the plant is important to get optimum results from the cultivation.

Gliricidae on the seashore of Depok, Bantul, Yogyakarta

Red caliandra on the slope of Mount Merapi, Magelang, Central Java

Likewise, the energy plantation. In addition to the selection of plant species to be planted, the location of the plantation should also be considered in relation to the types of plants to be planted. Energy plantation generally use fast growing species and short rotation coppice (SRC) plants of leguminoceae because they have many advantages, among others, fast harvest age (on average only 2 years), maintenance is very easy, does not need replanting up to a dozen years, the roots can absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere so that it fertilizes the soil, its roots are also strong so that it can withstand erosion, plants are also very efficient in the use of water so that it can be planted in even barren areas, the leaves are for high nutritious animal feed, and the flowers are for honey beekeeping. In short to optimize the use of the land, the energy plantation is integrated with the livestock business.

Gliricidae & calliandra are 2 species commonly used as energy plantation plants. Gliricidae is more suitable for the lowlands to the coast, while calliandra for the highlands. The practice of calliandra planting is also widely practiced in high areas, whereas gliricidae in the lowlands. Temperature, humidity, soil fertility, rainfall also influence to produce optimal energy plantation products. Sri Lanka is an example of a country that has a lot of gliricidae, especially as a crop between coconut trees. Indonesia as a coconut island seduction country should also be able to do the same thing. Under these conditions, wood pellet production can also be done as well as reviving the integrated coconut industry (more details can be read here, here and here) and livestock, for the best land optimization.

Bioeconomy is defined as knowledge-based production and uses biological resources or living things to produce products, processes, and services in the economic sector within the framework of a sustainable economic system. With the pattern above, energy plantation can be created in many central locations coconuts in Indonesia such as Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu, Gorontalo and South Sumatra to optimize the potential of the bioeconomy. In addition, millions of hectares of idle, marginal, barren land and critical land can be revived and saved to bring profit. Even hardwood trees in HTI (industrial timber plantations) which take a long time and also sometimes require high social costs for maintenance can also be converted to fast-growing species and SRC plants with energy plantations. Untreated land will be increasingly damaged such as erosion, landslides to desertification so that the mission of saving the environment has also automatically become part of the energy plantation activities above.