Research, development, and deployment needs for short-rotation plantation and agroforestry systems: an experts’ assessment of landowners’ perceptions

A survey was conducted among 126 experts to assess a comprehensive array of 44 research, development, and deployment (RD&D) needs previously identified by landowners (Marchand and Masse 2008) for four short-rotation plantation or agroforestry systems based on willow or hybrid poplar in Canada. Among the 44 initial needs, the study identified 16 needs that a significant majority of the experts who commented on them considered relevant to address in the short term (0–5 years), of which 11 needs applied to at least two of the four systems, half pertained to research and development, half to deployment, and most were related to economic or technical issues. The relevance of addressing these needs was expected to either remain stable or increase over the medium term (6–10 years). The needs identified in this study give a comprehensive overview of RD&D priorities for each of the four systems in Canada. As such, they should be useful for determining research directions and deployment policies and for designing broad program components. An updated list of needs is provided to facilitate the examination of potential need–system combinations other than those assessed as relevant.