Energy Poplar Nursery To Start In Arad County

Paula Bulzan,Arad

A German-based company will start a nursery for plants with a high energy potential in Bata, Arad County. The investor will grow a poplar tree hybrid that requires particular conditions and has already leased 100 hectares of land for this purpose. The land has been cleared of wild vegetation and ploughed and is now ready to receive the poplar saplings as of today.

"They have brought 500,000 poplar saplings from Germany already and want to plant a total of 3 million saplings by the end of Summer," said Ion Micurescu, the Mayor of Bata. The saplings are actually special poplar hybrids with high calorific value, similar to hardwood. Additionally, the hybrids grow quite fast compared to other kinds of trees. The main requirement is constant irrigation, which is not a problem in this particular case, as the river Mures is located nearby the nursery.

Two years from now, the saplings will be transferred to permanent forestation areas, prepared by the same requirements. After five years of growth, the trees are cut, chopped and turned into briquettes to be used as fuel (biomass) for power and heating plants. "The investors want to set up at least three cycles of five years each for this hybrid, which gives wood with a much higher calorific value than the original tree," Mayor Micurescu added.

With the new nursery in place and the aforementioned development plans, the administration of Bata has managed to revitalize the local economy after several decades when only 20% of the surrounding land was used. Additionally, the investment will create up to 100 jobs, depending on the actual size of the nursery and the forested areas.

Bata failed to attract investors for many years because of its proximity to the river Mures and the associated risk of flooding, as well as because of the large wild board population in the nearby forests and the damage they tend to cause to agricultural enterprises. Fortunately for the new business, wild boars to not appreciate poplar, while the river serves as a convenient and less expensive source of irrigations.