The Opportunities and Challenges of Jati Plus Perhutani

Abstract

The teak breeding program has long been conducted by Perum Perhutani and produced superior teak and was named Teak Plus of Perhutani - Jati Plus Perhutani (JPP). With good silviculture practices, JPP-teak of 9 year-old can produce no less than 100 m³/ha, with ± 60 cm of tree circumstance. The high demand for teak wood is an opportunity to develop JPP-teak with fast growing character. Research shows that the quality of JPP wood of 5 and 10 years of age can be classified into Strength Class III. Although the quality of JPP-teak is not equal as the teak gets older, it can be improved through several methods, such as densification, thermal modification, etc. Durability of fast growing JPP-teak can be enhanced by additional treatment with natural or chemical material preservation. Wood color modification can be done through heat treatment method. The color change of JPP-teak of 5 years of age that looked more brownies with variation in value of color change (ΔE*) of 1.04 to 48.53. Modification technology influenced the properties of teak wood and it is an opportunity of JPP to gain added value as a renewable forest resource product. With teak forest area covering 1.7 million hectares, Perum Perhutani has challenges in developing JPP-teak with more added value.