Anant Phusitthikul, secretary-general of the department, said the provinces were Lopburi, Saraburi, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Sawan and Petchabun.

At present the eucalyptus contract covers 80,000 rai. The office plans to expand this to 400,000 rai over the next five years, including 20,000 households.

Eucalyptus pulp will be directly supplied to the contract company, which will distribute the pulp to paper-manufacturers.

The company will support tissue culture of eucalyptus trees, with three-year-old trees yielding 150 kilograms of pulp each and five-year-old trees 250kg.

Farmers will receive a guaranteed price of Bt1,000 per tonne. However, they have to buy eucalyptus tissue culture at a price of Bt3 per tree.

Vinyoo Chara, a raw-material sourcer for the contract company, said the first trees would be planted this month. The first phase of the project includes 700 farmers on 8,000 rai.

The company also suggested that farmers grow eucalyptus on dividers between paddy fields, which could accommodate 150-270 trees per rai with an expected yield of 15 tonnes per rai, bringing in Bt6,450 per rai profit per year.

He said that demand for pulp at just one plant in Lopburi was 5,000 tonnes per day.

"The strategy will also help restore deforested environments and generate higher income for farmers instead of them continuing to rely on low-price crops," he said, adding that exports of more pulp and paper would add value to farm goods.