How do we plant?
Mahogany Roraima has three forms of planting, one that employs regional labor and specially designed carts, one 100% mechanized and the last specifically for use in APP or RL areas.
The first planting system is based on a planting method that allows us to plant 200ha per day with only 40 people. This method consists of the use of wagons designed and built by us, allied to the method we developed.
The second system is 100% mechanized using the Forest.Bot. With the use of only four (4) of these machines we can plant 100 hectares per day, or 26,800 hectares per year (in 268 labor days), which could amount to 14 million trees per year.
The third method was specially designed to enter APP and RL areas without damaging the ecosystem and planting new trees there.
Operation
Seven years in the capital of Roraima, Boa Vista, the company Mahogany Roraima is developing the largest African Mahogany sustainable forest of Brazil, a project that aims to reach 20,000 hectares of African mahogany forest in 10 years (Khaya species, genera Khaya Ivorensis, Khaya Senegalensis and native trees).
The State of Roraima has the best climatic and soil conditions for the development of African Mahogany Trees. While in Brazil the average production of wood should be between 0.5m3 and 0.9m3, in the same period in Roraima (North of Brazil) the expectation of wood production should be around 1.8m3. There was a plantation in Roraima with 18 years, where the average production of wood is 1.84m3 and where there are many mahogany trees with 2m3 of timber.
Currently in the African Mahogany market of Latin America, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru and the Dominican Republic participate. Brazil slowly returns to the world market after years off due to federal law that banned the cutting and exploitation of Brazilian Mahogany. From 1971 to 1998 Brazil sold an average of 175,000m3 of Brazilian Mahogany annually.
The price of African mahogany currently ranges from US $ 750 per cubic meter (m3) to US $ 2,300 per cubic meter (ITTO data).
Numbers of the Mahogany Roraima Project:
Total area to be planted: 20,000ha.
Years for planting: 10 years.
Trees per hectare: 555.
Total trees: 11 million trees.
Total trees for cutting from 18 years: 2,8 million m3.
FOB m3 price: U$ 800 dollars.
The trees of the forests are cut in the year 8, 10, 12 and 18.
Advantage of the project in Roraima:
Climatic condition. Monsoon climate in the Roraima region favors the growth of African Mahogany. In regions of Africa where mahogany is born naturally, this climate prevails.
Price of the cheapest land in Brazil. The cost per hectare in Roraima is the lowest in Brazil. There you find lands that range from U$ 1,300 dollars per hectare to U$ 3,000 dollars (with documents).
Roraima is 600km from the nearest port on the Panama Canal. The port of the city of Georgetown in English Guiana.
Physically and chemically the soil of Roraima resembles the soil of Africa where African mahogany grows naturally.
Planting Consortium:
The company is testing and studying various consortiums for the introduction of other species in the African Mahogany forests, such as: Cocoa, Açaí, Palmito, Avocado, Pitaia, Citrus, Banana, Beans, Macaxeira, Maize, among others.
The advantage of the consortiums is the income they generate, the improvement of the physical and chemical conditions of the soil, and the conscious and responsible use of the land.
Caring for the environment and man:
Forests have ecological corridors, and the first plots are already beginning to receive frequent animal visits.
To prevent the deer from continuing to eat the Mahogany trees at the beginning of planting, we planted beans that are a favorite food for deer.
Automatic forest planting machine. Creation of Mahogany Roraima. Created and built what we call the Forest.Bot
Numerous courses are given to employees and employees of the company to train, raising the technical level of all involved in the project, ensuring greater safety and quality in the processes of planting from the nursery to the formation of forests.
We also invest in the amateur sport in the region, promoting and stimulating the activity of conscious and responsible production among young people in successful sports in the region, such as Jiu-jitsu, Parachuting, Motocross, Rally etc.
Research and technical advances:
Currently we have the collaboration of three teams of researchers headed by the following people:
Professor Dr. José Frutuoso do Vale – PhD. Agronomist.
Professor Dr. José Beethoven Figueiredo. PhD. Forestry Engineer.
Master Patricia dos Santos Mendes – Studying Doctorate. Agronomic.
Master Deyse Cristina de Oliveira – Studying Doctorate. Agronomic.
The team of Dr. Frutuoso is responsible for the study and analysis of the soils, evaluating the physical-chemical conditions of the same, besides the fertility and aptitude. In this way, we can better select where the mahogany forests of the genus Khaya Ivorensis and Khaya Senegalensis will be installed to obtain the best results in the production of wood. Among the studies carried out, we are comparing the local soil conditions in Roraima with the soils where the African mahogany naturally develops.
The team of Dr. Beethoven is all concentrated in the nursery and planted fields, evaluating the protocols of planting of seeds, germination and rustification, besides the studies and monitoring of the health of the seedlings in the nursery and of the forests. Periodically we collect the indicators of both the seedlings and the trees in the forests to determine the best management for the production of well-rustified seedlings for this region and the best practices for the production of wood in the cycle determined by the company.
The teams of doctoral students Patricia and Deyse are working in the field, evaluating the growth of the trees and their roots, studying profiles in all the fields planted by the company. Their teams will also evaluate the behavior of African mahogany planted in other regions of our state, to create parameters for comparison between the development of forests in the different soils of Roraima and with different management conditions. Among other things, we are comparing how the African mahogany responds to irrigation and accurately determining its real need.
We used biological combat techniques of the red and red mite with the use of predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus and biological control of soil diseases mainly preventive against white root rot using Trichoderma Harzianum.
We install the most modern weather station in the state of Roraima, and we will install new stations in the other farms that will compose the project as a whole. The weather station publishes the data in real time and is used by all rural producers in the state for free.
The nurseries have modern equipment for measurement of luminosity, humidity and temperature and all collected data are crossed to obtain the best seedlings. Currently we produce the best rustic seedlings for the harsh climatic conditions of the state. Studies of more than 6 years have allowed us to root out seedlings that even planted in the period of greatest drought, do not die when placed on the ground, and similar growth occurs in seedlings planted in irrigated fields in other projects under development in the state.
We zero in on our carbon emissions by deploying a solar plant, which we expanded in 2022.
All the tractors in the company and the new ones we are buying have GPS and autopilot and all the activities related to the planting and maintenance of the forests are programmed in the computer before they are downloaded in the tractors to carry out the works. Thus we greatly shorten the time of the activities, reduce the cost of maintenance, increase the accuracy of the plots and simplify the works of planting and maintenance of the plots.
We developed a system of planting that allows us to plant an average of 150 ha / day with total planting quality and reducing the loss of seedlings of an average that could vary from 5% to 10% to less than 0.0001%. The average planting team rotates around 70 employees with three planting carts in a single 6-hour shift.
