India’s paper industry is counting on agroforestry to meet a rising demand for wood pulp, reports the Financial Express.

Already, more than 1,500 acres of land in Andhra Pradesh have been planted with Eucalyptus trees alongside crops such as cotton, chili, sunflower, maize and tobacco.

“Through promotion of agroforestry, the pressure on the natural forest for wood supply could be reduced and it also brings in farm diversification and improves soil health,” says HD Kulkarni, vice-president (plantation) of paper manufacturer, ITC.

Kulkarni claims farmers have been getting a pulp yield of 40 to 60 tonne per acre and an income ranging from R60,000 (US $1,000) to R1 lakh (US $1,800) in the four-year time span in addition to regular income from growing other crops.”

Another paper manufacturer JK Paper has been promoting a similar model - where farmers grow eucalyptus on their own land, while the company helps them in providing inputs such as a pulp buy-back arrangement - in Orissa and Gujarat.

The current annual paper production in India is estimated at 10 million tonne and expected to rise to 24 million tonne by 2025.

Read the full article: Hit by land crunch, paper majors bank on agroforestry for pulp