Determination of the Optimal Financial Rotation Period in Poplar Plantations

Abstract

Due to trends in the consumption of wood and particularly soft broadleaves, poplar cultivation has gained importance in Serbia and worldwide in the field of production, economics and environmental protection issues. The present study was performed to determine the optimal financial rotation lengths for hybrid poplar plantations (Populus Eurantericarta Gunier I-214) in a selected area of Serbia. The aim of this study is to apply the method of assessment and calculation of the optimal production cycle length in order to determine the optimal production cycle length of poplar plantations in the localities of Serbia from a financial standpoint. The selected discount rate for the calculation is 6% (close to the maximum recorded internal rate of yield in the observed compartments). It was concluded that the production cycle length of poplar in the study area ranges from 12-19 years, depending on the soil type. The longest rotation is obtained for humofluvisol (alluvial semigley). The estimation based on the NPVs critrrionetermined a desired optimal production cycle length of about 16 years.