Forest plantation development on private land is
still embryonic in Peninsular Malaysia. For the planters, market development
and access are real concerns. Unlike commercial agricultural crops (e.g. rubber
and oil palm) for which markets exist, the potential market for
plantation-grown timber has yet to be established. Some respondents were unsure
of the future market situation. Nevertheless, they were aware that markets for
plantation-grown timber existed. Forty-five percent of the
respondents stated their perceived market to be in-country, 22 percent to be
foreign markets while 33 percent were undecided (Table 36). Apparently, for a
slightly greater proportion of individual planters (48 percent) the domestic
market was more important compared to companies (33 percent). A higher
percentage of the latter perceive their markets to
be in foreign
countries (50 percent) than the former (14 percent). One possible reason
for this difference is that companies have better access to information on
foreign markets than individual planters.
Table 36. Planters’ perceptions of potential markets
|
Perceived market |
Companies (n= 6 ) |
Individual
planters (n =21 ) |
Total (n =27 ) |
|||
|
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
|
|
In-country |
2 |
33 |
10 |
48 |
12 |
45 |
|
Foreign |
3 |
50 |
3 |
14 |
6 |
22 |
|
Not sure |
1 |
17 |
8 |
38 |
9 |
33 |
|
Total |
6 |
100 |
21 |
100 |
27 |
100 |
While companies
were aware of potential buyers and end-uses for their timber, individual
planters were not (Tables 37 and 38). The companies felt that they could sell
their timber to either trading agents or furniture mills in the form of
sawntimber. Among the 21 individual planters, 63 percent stated that they could
either sell their timber to trading agents or furniture mills. Another
33 percent did not know to whom they could sell their timber. Similarly,
47 percent of the individual planters did not have any knowledge of the
potential end-uses for the timber they were producing.
Table 37. Planters’ perceptions of potential markets
|
Perceived market |
Companies (n= 6) |
Individual
planters (n =21) |
Total (n =27) |
|||
|
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
|
|
Trading agent |
3 |
50 |
2 |
10 |
5 |
19 |
|
Furniture mills |
3 |
50 |
9 |
43 |
12 |
44 |
|
Do not know |
0 |
0 |
10 |
47 |
10 |
37 |
|
Total |
6 |
100 |
21 |
100 |
27 |
100 |
Table 38. Planters’ perceptions of timber end usage
|
Perceived market |
Companies (n= 6) |
Individual
planters (n =21) |
Total (n =27) |
|||
|
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
|
|
Furniture |
5 |
83 |
9 |
43 |
14 |
52 |
|
Sawntimber |
1 |
17 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
Others |
0 |
0 |
2 |
10 |
2 |
7 |
|
Do not know |
0 |
0 |
10 |
47 |
10 |
37 |
|
Total |
6 |
100 |
21 |
100 |
27 |
100 |
Companies planted on
larger areas and invested in more labour inputs for managing their plantations
than individual planters. On average, each company planted 75 ha while
individual planters established 2 ha only. For companies the lack of suitable
land was a serious constraint for extending plantations. The individual
planters established trees on their own land so land availability was not an
issue. Common problems encountered in planting forest trees for both groups
included appropriate species selection, difficulty in obtaining quality
seedlings and lack of knowledge on planting. Half of the companies also faced labour
shortage, which was not a problem for the individual planters. All the
companies were aware of the potential markets and end-uses for plantation-grown
timber, but approximately half of the individual planters lacked this
knowledge. This indicates that more information on potential markets and
end-uses of timber should be disseminated to encourage more planting.
