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REFORESTATION WITH TEAK

The reforestation with teak in Brazil started in 1968, in Cáceres, State of Mato Grosso. Among other specimens tested, teak has proved to be the most promising for reforestation in the region, and started to be planted in commercial scale since 1971. Surprising facts marked the culture of teak in Brazil: - Its cutting cycle is of 25 years, against 80 to 100 years in other regions of the planet; - Its IMA (medium annual increment) reaches the best indexes of evelopment in the world, between 10 and 15m3/year.

The mechanical characteristics of the wood produced in Mato Grosso, tested by IPT (Institute of Technological Research), are similar to the ones of Southeast Asia. The patterns of its wood are beautiful and attractive, and even the thinned-out trees already have properties comparable to species of high commercial value in Brazil, according to UFV (Federal University of Viçosa).

To achieve good results, the choice of the soil is fundamental:
it has to be fertile and located in regions with well defined climatic
cycles.

BIOECOLOGY

The environmental characteristics required for a highly productive teak plantation are: Rainfall between 1.250mm and 2.500mm, with the most rainy months coinciding with the period of higher temperatures.
A dry season of 3 to 5 months. An average annual temperature higher than 24ºC, the ideal range being from 27ºC to 36ºC during daytime and between 22ºC to 31ºC during the night. Teak is sensible to frost.

Deep soil, permeable and with a reasonable capacity of water retention, medium to good fertility, with a pH equal or higher than 6.0. Avoid topographies with high declivity, or take the measures necessary to avoid erosive processes (level curves and vegetable covering).