[extropy-chat] agroforestry

[Morris Johnson]

·         *Overview* Here's the script from an Agroforestry story March 21,
2006:**
Dale Neufeld
News Director
CTV Saskatoon/Prince Albert
(306) 665-9246

Premier Lorne Calvert admits it's an ambitious goal. The Premier has set a
target of converting 10 per cent of Saskatchewan's farmland over to
agroforestry within 20 years. He thinks tree production will be a good way
for farmers to make money off of marginal land.

(200,000acres/year)

Premier Lorne Calvert: "We have work to do with industry. We have work to do
in market development. No use in planting trees if there are no markets. We
have important decisions to make around issues, around taxation, incentive
programs."

Trees grown by farmers could be turned into lumber, biofuel or other
products. 50 Saskatchewan farmers have already planted 15 hundred acres to
hybrid poplars as part of a pilot federal program. Calvert says moving
agroforestry into large-scale production will need further research and new
policies from governments to help farmers diversify into growing trees.

Calvert: "We need to ensure that producers will have adequate return and
adequate source of income as they make that transition. And there may be a
variety of creative ways that we can accomplish that, working with the
public sector, working with the private sector."

Calvert says world demand for lumber and wood products continues to grow,
which should help generate more interest in agroforestry. Proponents are
hopeful agroforestry in Saskatchewan can succeed. But they're also
encouraging producers to proceed with caution.

Bill Sullivan/Melfort Agroforester: "We're not expecting farmers to go out
and plant you know hundreds of acres now, you know immediately. We suggest
that you plant maybe 10 acres every year. So there is a perpetual supply."

Bill Sullivan says expansion of agroforestry in Saskatchewan can be part of
the green economy and help Canada meet targets for reducing
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