Retreat from Salix - Swedish experience with energy crops in the 1990s
A wave of Salix (willow) planting rolled over Sweden in the early 1990s, driven by subsidies and optimistic market expectations. The expected economic life span of such investments is 20 years or more. But in fact, many plantations were terminated or reduced much sooner. This article explores the reasons for this retreat. In a survey to Salix farmers, 41 per cent either have retreated or regretted