Plywood production: poplar is a particularly suitable wood

It is almost a century that several poplar clones have been selected in Italy and have been extensively grown in specialized plants, especially in the Po Valley. The most known among them is clone ‘I-214', which has been introduced with excellent results also in many other European and non-European countries.

Over time, the cultivation of poplar has produced a series of significant consequences, deeply changing the landscape, contributing to the integration of farming income and the socio-economic development deriving from the presence of the supply chain activities distributed over the territory. As an activity aimed at the national wood production, Italian poplar-growing has a significant peculiarity. Actually, it is an activity carried out in an agronomic context where it is characterized by a lower use of fertilizers compared to traditional cultivations, but relates to a final product that in other countries is usually typical of the forest industry; therefore, it takes the place of forest stands with reference to the supply of wood as raw material for the processing industry.

The availability of poplar wood in adequate volumes (approximately 80,000 hectares) in short times (with rotations of 8-12 years) and with programmable quantities, homogeneous characteristics and high quality has determined the success of the plywood national industry, playing an instrumental role in the development of the home furnishing industry and its recognition in the world.  

The remarkable ecological values characterizing wood as a resource naturally renewable, transformable with low energy costs and a low environmental impact, reusable and recyclable are accompanied by its positive contribution to the carbon cycle, making desirable an increase in the production and consumption of its products, as a right answer to the current expectations related to environmental respect and sustainable development.