EVALUACIÓN DE TERRAZAS DE BANCO PARA PLANTACIONES FORESTALES COMERCIALES

Abstract

As an option to face the severe erosion problem that prevails in México, a project of bench terraces for commercial forest plantations was carried out in Valle de Bravo, Estado de México. The technical ef ciency of the project was assessed as well as its nancial feasibility. Field work was done from January to August, 2007. Vertical and horizontal ranges between the benches were based upon the following criteria: rainfall, dominant slopes (15 and 0 per cent), soil texture and the foresters’ needs. Seventy m x 0. 5 m x .90 m terraces were built in ha, where ,757 commercial trees were planted. In order to know their technical ef ciency, in ltration, super cial draining and the sediments in plots with and without 0.15 m2 terraces were measured, under simulation rainfall of 1 0mmh-1 intensity. Soil erosion was estimated through the Universal Soil Loss Equation. Terraces showed an ef ciency of 99.09 per cent for erosion control, 43.6 per cent for in ltration increment, 7 per cent of runoff reduction and 6.6 per cent of sediment loss. In regard to nancial feasibility, it was found a cost-bene t relation of 2.37, with a net present value of $ 7 800 318.77, and an internal rate of return of 129%. It was concluded that the implementation of bench terraces for commercial forest is a technically ef cient nancially feasible possibility.