Even without the use of somatic embryogenesis, high-yield plantations are now responsible for a disproportionately large portion of many nation's total productivity, as the chart below indicates. In New Zealand, for example, high-yield radiata pine plantations account for only 19% of the country's entire crop, yet are responsible for 93% of their nation's production. Similar results have also been achieved in Chile and Brazil.

Of course, this increase in productivity also has other compelling benefits. Firstly, high-yield plantation forestry reduces the pressure on natural forests, allowing more land to be conserved as natural ecosystems. A further environmental benefit is that it turns degraded, marginal agricultural land into productive plantations by reducing soil erosion.

Simply put, high-yield forestry works.

This approach is now being practiced around the world, including Australia, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia, New Zealand, South and West Africa, Nordic Europe, Pacific North west, and Southern USA. And the results speak for themselves. Chile and Uruguay have tripled productivity using high-yield plantation forestry. Brazil and Argentina, meanwhile, have doubled their productivity.

Spain, Portugal, New Zealand and South Africa have increased productivity by over 50%, while Canada and the United States have experienced an increase in productivity of over 25%.

These results have been witnessed both with native species, such as the loblolly pine in the southern United States, and with exotic species such as radiata pine in New Zealand, caribbean pine in Australia, and eucalyptus in Brazil, Spain and Portugal.

As remarkable as these gains have been, they've occurred entirely through traditional high-yield forestry methods, without any reliance of somatic embryogenesis. However, these numbers do begin to provide some hint of the powerful economic impact of Somatic embryogenesis 

A process of initiation and development of somatic embryos in vitro from somatic cells and tissues.

- both for forestry corporations, and their host nations.

Table: Examples of plantation forestry yield contribution to national production

		Forest area (1,000 ha)		Plantation share (%)
SPECIES	COUNTRY	NATURAL	PLANTATION	TOTAL AREA	TOTAL PRODUCTION
Radiata pine	NZ	6,270	1,240	19%	93%
Radiata pine	Chile	6,300	1,400	22%	95%
Eucalyptus	Brazil	396,000	6,500	2%	60%

(Source: Sedjo, R.A. 1999. The potential of high-yield plantation forestry for meeting timber needs. New Forests 17:339-259)