DAVAO CITY (PNA) – Low-cost, prefabricated houses made of wood for low-income families are being eyed as one of the value-added projects by the wood industry cluster team under the advanced stage of the Davao Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project 2 (DICCEP 2).
German Urbiztondo, forester of the Region-11 office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-11), said the team will move to promote more planting of acacia mangium, mahogany (lawaan), and gmelina trees by tree farmers in Region-11 in the coming months to meet the new demand.
Although falcatta trees have been very popular with many tree farmers in recent years due to the demand by plywood factories and pallet-makers in Mindanao, its current cheap price is forcing some farmers to shift to other tree species.
“Falcatta is too soft for construction, it can’t hold nails. They’re used mostly for making crates and pallets for banana companies,” said Urbiztondo during a recent cluster meeting composed of representatives from the private sector, DENR, local government units, and the academe.
source: mb.com.ph
