Current status of technology-use for plantation re-establishment in South Africa

Plantation re-establishment is a key component of silviculture as it deals with the creation of a suitable environment when planting or seeding a stand. Re-establishment practices include slash management, site preparation, marking and preparation of a planting position, planting, fertilisation and vegetation management. Over the past decade, there has been a shift towards mechanising re-establishment activities primarily due to labour challenges such as: aging rural workforce; increasing labour costs; high labour turnover; problematic health issues leading to lower productivity; inconsistent work quality by manual labour; and poor ergonomic practices. A survey was conducted to assess and gauge the level of mechanisation within these re-establishment practices in South Africa. Responses to an e-mail questionnaire were received from 43 contractors and 11 grower companies from within the different provinces where commercial forestry is practiced in South Africa. The survey, a first of its kind, was designed and administered following the techniques used in conducting the Forest Engineering technical survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results showed that the total area re-planted by respondent contractors and grower companies was ± 36 923 ha-1 per year. The predominant activities conducted prior to planting comprised: burning (78%); marking a planting position using the baseline method (71%); preparation of a planting position using a road pick (57%) and pre-plant chemical weeding with a knapsack (70%). Furthermore, 45% of planting and 77% of blanking operations were carried out manually with a trowel. Post planting activities such as fertilizing and weeding were carried out through manual spot application of fertiliser (61%) and herbicide application with a knapsack (43%). Overall, the results indicated that typical re-establishment activities are still dominated by manual methods. This study is a baseline for future, periodic surveys that can be conducted to analyse trends and identify areas for improvement in re-establishment activities in South Africa.