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Sandalwood farming in India: problems and prospects

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 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity
© Society for Promotion of Tropical Biodiversity, Jabalpur
___
( Review Article)

SANDALWOOD FARMING IN INDIA: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

BABITA MISHRA, SANDEEP CHAKRABORTY, SANDHYA MC AND S VISWANATH*

Institute of Wood Science and Technology, 18th cross Malleswaram, Bangalore-560003
*Corresponding author email: syamviswanath@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Indian Sandalwood (Santalum album L.) may be considered as one of the world's most valuable commercial
timber and is currently valued globally for its heartwood and oil. Since liberalization of rules regarding sandalwood
growing in 2001 and 2002 there has been tremendous interest among farmers and stakeholders across India in farming
this tree. The hemi-parasitic nature of the tree, its adaptability to grow in semiarid tracts and potential to grow in
combination with horticultural species as secondary hosts makes it a potent agroforestry species. High demand and
remunerative prices of heartwood have motivated farmers/stakeholders to take up sandalwood farming especially in
non-traditional areas in many states across India like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and
Maharashtra since the past decade. The potential of the tree in natural and naturalized forested areas, existing farming
systems and other silvi-horticultural systems across India have been studied by IWST including heartwood and oil
formation using non-destructive methods. The scope of cultivation in current farming systems including economics of
cultivation have been critically analyzed and presented.The current problems and future prospects for increased
livelihood opportunities and enhancing farm income levels also discussed along with suggestion for promoting
sandalwood farming practices across India.
Key words: Santalum album, heartwood, oil content, core samples, sandalwood farming, agroforestry
Citation: Mishra B, Chakraborty S, Sandhya MC, Viswanath S (2018) Sandalwood farming in India: problems and
prospects. Indian J Trop Biodiv 26(1): 1-12

Received on : 11 Jan 2018 Santa/um album L. is
Accepted on : 27 Mar 2018 intimately associated with
Published on : 30 Jun 2018 Indian culture and
heritage and is acclaimed
as the most precious and valuable among Indian forest
trees. Sandalwood trees are the source of highly priced
and fragrant heartwood which on steam distillation
yields on an average 5-7% oil of high grade perfumery
value. S. album belongs to the family Santalaceae, and
is a hemi root parasite tree species. The heartwood is
the commercially important part while the close grains in
wood make it highly amenable for carving and
fabricating exquisite handicraft items that are fragrant,
elegant and largely self-protected from termites and
wood borers (Arun Kumar et al., 2012)
In India, nearly 98 per cent (8300 sq. kms) of the
total sandalwood area is in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
In Karnataka, sandalwood is spread over an area of
5245 sq. kms. Sandalwood, referred to locally as
Chandana or Srigandha, has always been regarded as
a 'state tree' of Karnataka. Sandalwood trees are
generally distributed in southern and southwestern
parts of the state. India exports around 2000 tonnes of
wood and 100 tonnes of oil annually to various countries
and accounts for 99 per cent of sandalwood oil
production in the world (Rai and Sarma, 1990)
However, recently, the annual production of
sandalwood has declined from 4000 tonnes in 1965-70
to nearly 2000 tonnes in 1999-2000. The oil production
has also decreased to 40-50 tons in 1999-2000 from 60
tonnes in 1981-1994 (Ananthapadmanabha, 2000).
The global production of sandalwood is 4000 tonnes.
Officially, India produces about 10% of global
production i.e., around 400 tonnes of sandalwood
{Times of India, 2012). The current cost of sandalwood
oil at Cauvery Emporium outlet of state run Karnataka
State Handicrafts Development Corporation (KSHDC)
was Rs.1500 for 5g or Rs.3, 00,000 per kg in 2012.
(Arun Kumar et al., 2012). The average auction price of
sandalwood in 2013 was Rs. 6500/kg in Tamil Nadu
Forest Department at Salem depot in Tamil Nadu
(Viswanath, 2014). The average a-auction price of
sandalwood recorded in Marayoor Sandalwood reserve
Forest division of Kerala Forest department in 2016 was
around Rs 12,000 /kg and the average price paid to
farmer by Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd.,
Bangalore (KSDL) on procurement of sandalwood is Rs
6400/kg (KSDL.pers.comm). However, international
prices are 20% higher and in excess of Rs 2, 00,000/kg
for sandalwood oil.
Sandalwood (Santa/um album L. or East Indian
sandalwood) can be considered as one of the world's
most valuable commercial timber. The species is quite
hardy, can grow in dry and degraded lands and over a

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 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018
variety of soils, and has the potential to grow in
combination with horticultural species as secondary
hosts. Indian sandal (Santa/um album L) is considered
best and is highly prized for its superior quality oil.
Current value of heartwood is around Rs.28, 000/kg in
authentic retail outlets like Cauvery emporium of
KSHDC, Bangalore. Sapwood finds utilization in
carving and turnery and is recognized as one of the
finest woods for carving. Due to over exploitation, the
species has been categorized as vulnerable by
International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Government policies have been relaxed to revive this
important species in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in 2001
and 2002, which had the largest area under
sandalwood in natural forests. Seeing its huge
potential, other states have also shown keen interest in
establishing sandalwood plantations. Currently Govt
subsidiaries like KSHDC and Karnataka soaps and
Detergents Ltd (KSDL) are authorized to procure and
deal with sandalwood from private cultivators in addition
to State forest dept in Karnataka. However, the high
retail price of sandalwood has not translated into
matching remunerative profits for farmers when
sandalwood grown in farmlands is sold to Govt
agencies. In 2017, the average procurement price of
sandalwood from farmers by KSDL was Rs 6400/kg of
heartwood and a 15 year old tree is estimated to yield at
least 15kg heartwood under cultivated conditions. Thus
there appears to be a huge gap between procurement
price of sandalwood by govt. agencies and retail price
sold by them through their outlets which is a disincentive
for sandalwood farmers. Despite this anomaly, there is
an increasing demand for sandalwood seedlings over
the past decade. National Medicinal Plant Board
through its subsidiary state medicinal boards has
meanwhile initiated various schemes to promote sandal
cultivation. The demand for sandalwood seedling for
planting in farmlands in several states in India has been
increasing exponentially. The demand of sandalwood
seedlings in Kolar district of Karnataka alone is
estimated to be 5 lakhs annually.
1. Legal issues involved in sandalwood
cultivation
With the Karnataka Forest (Amendment) Act 2001 and
substitution of Section 83, which recognizes the right of
occupant or land holder to be legally entitled to the
sandal tree in his land, there has been a marked
demand from private entrepreneurs and private farmers
for raising private plantations. Legal barriers for growing
sandalwood have so far prevented private initiatives for
domestication/conservation of this prized tree and
not only failed to conserve this resource, but only
(2)
accelerated its illegal harvesting from natural forests.
There has been some prominent studies, notably
Dhanya et al., (2010) who have critically examined the
sandal conservation efforts in India especially from a
policy prospective, through a detailed review of the
various Acts framed for conserving this resource and
regulating its extraction and trade.
Rules vary from state to state regarding possession
and storing of sandalwood and its products. In case
of Karnataka, according to Karnataka Forest
(Amendment) Act 2001 of substitution of Section 83,
every occupant or land holder of land shall be legally
entitled to the sandal tree in his land except where such
sandal trees is declared to be the property of the state or
government in any grant, lease, contract or other
instrument, but such occupant or holder shall not fell or
sell such sandal tree or convert or dress sandalwood
obtained from such tree or possess, store, transport or
sell the sandalwood so obtained except in accordance
with the provisions of the rules made under this act. It
further says that, it will be the responsibility of occupants
and holder of land for the preservation of sandalwood
trees under section 83 and event of theft, report such
fact to the nearest Forest Officer or Police Officer.
Despite all these hassles, high demand of sandal wood
and lucrative prices of sandal heartwood have not
dampened spirit of farmers and continues to motivate
private individuals to take up sandal cultivation on
farmlands even though protection issues are still to be
addressed.
2. Potential areas of sandalwood farming in
Northern India
Quality Planting Material (QPM) of sandal from known
sources is one of the main bottle necks hampering its
wide scale cultivation. In India, sandalwood seedlings
have traditionally been raised in 1500mm polybags to
produce plantable seedlings of at least 30cm height with
dark brown colored stem base (Rai 1990). However
Annapurna et al., (2006) showed that good quality
seedlings could be raised in root trainers as small as
270mm size. Sandalwood also requires a primary host
at the nursery stage and long term secondary host when
planted in field. Studies by Annapurna et al., (2006)
have revealed that providing Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp,
as primary host immediately after transplanting
sandalwood seedlings at two leaf stage in containers
could be the optimal stage for boosting the growth of
sandalwood seedlings. Sandalwood seedlings in
general exhibited better growth when grown in the same
container with a leguminous host (Annapurna et al.,
2006).
 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018

Sandal cultivation has so far been restricted to around 168 sandalwood (Santa/um album) trees aged
government controlled lands, reserve forests and between 8 to 35 years and above and girth class
protected areas and hence information is lacking on ranging between 30 to ~ 80 cm across seven states
growth, heart wood formation and compatibility with during 2015-2016, from 22 locations (Table 1.) revealed
horticultural crops when grown on private lands under that the overall oil content in heart-wood in all the girth
intensively managed conditions (Plate 1 & 2). The classes ranged between 1.0 to 4.0% (Mishra et al.,
potential of the tree in existing farming or silvi- 2018). Mean percent of heartwood and oil increased
horticultural systems with horticultural plants as significantly with age. Maximum oil concentration
secondary host for improving livelihood and creating (4.38%) was observed in natural population in
employment opportunities and enhancing farm Marayoor (Kerala) in girth class 70-80cm whereas in
incomes is quite huge especially in semiarid zones due similar girth class in Madhya Pradesh the maximum oil
to the less demanding climatic and edaphic obtained (1.52%) was substantially low. In sandalwood
requirements of this species. samples from other states like Maharashtra, Orissa and
Sandalwood cultivation has been picking up in Punjab and Rajasthan, the maximum oil concentration
nontraditional states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra was in 1.0- 2.29% range and was observed in the girth
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. In class ~80cm. Oil percent estimated was correlated with
Gujarat it is estimated that nearly 20,000 ha are under heartwood content and was found to vary significantly
sandalwood cultivation as per data from Gujarat with girth class and locations. To estimate heartwood
sandalwood growers association (Nitin Patel 2017. percent and oil yield from the sample trees from four
pers. comm). Among the southern states, in Karnataka locations viz. Assam (Diphu) and Karnataka
alone, currently 3000 ha is estimated to be under (Bangalore, Shivamogga and Mysore) where six girth
sandalwood cultivation followed by Tamil Nadu as per classes of sandalwood trees were selected which
data of Karnataka Sandalwood growers association. showed heartwood initiation at the girth class 41-50 cm
However, for some reason Kerala is lagging far behind (Sandeep et al., 2016). More than 50% heartwood was
in sandalwood cultivation. noticed in the girth class of trees 51-60 cm and 70%
3. Heartwood and oil formation in sandalwood heartwood in the girth-class 71-80 cm and the oil
trees in Northern India content of these trees were around 1.5 to 3.0 %.
Maximum oil content of 4% was noticed in the trees of
Santa/um album is regarded as the only species in
girth class 91-100 cm. The rate of heartwood formation,
Genus Santalum yielding high quality sandal oil. In
trend of increase in heartwood and oil content percent
India, However, a scientific assessment on heartwood
from the Assam populations showed more or less
and oil yield in non-traditional areas is lacking. In a
similar pattern to the populations found in Karnataka.
recent study (Mishra et al., 2018 in press) on scientific
Jain et al., (1998) found that girth as well as age of
assessment on heartwood and oil yield using core
sandalwood trees had significant influence on the oil per
samples extracted using Haglof increment borer from
Table 1: Sampling locations of sandalwood trees across India.
S. No. State Location S. No. State Location
1. Karnataka Bangalore 8. Maharashtra Nasik
Bangalore Ahmednagar
Chikballapur Pune
Dharwad Osmanabad
2. Kerala Idukki 9. Madhya Pradesh Jabalpur
3. Punjab Birsnour Katni
Hoshiarpur Seoni
4. Orissa Koraput 10. Rajasthan Jodhpur
Kalahandi Udaipur
Raygada Pali
Bhubaneswar Sadri
5. Gujarat Mehsana 11. Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad
Mahua Tirupati
Varodera Chitoor
6. Tamil nadu Vellore 12. Maharashtra Nasik
Salem Pune
7. Assam Diphu Shirdi Latur
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 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018
cent in heartwood of sandalwood trees. A study on oil
content in sandal-wood from provenance areas
Bangalore and Thangli in Karnataka and Marayoor in
Kerala, it was found that the percentage of oil remained
more or less constant at 4% after attaining 80 cm girth
and further increase in oil percent beyond 4% in trees
above 80 cm girth was only marginal (Jain et al., 2003a).
They also concluded that the sandalwood tree adapts
very well in term of growth, heartwood and oil content
under diverse locality factors (Jain et al., 2003b).
However, further detailed sampling across the different
agro-climatic regions in some other states could reveal
a more concise picture and dispel myths about the
quality of sandalwood trees in non-traditional areas
being inferior to that in peninsular India.
Considering the financial viability of growing
sandalwood (Viswanath, 2010) and seeing the growing
trend in price of wood and oil in international market,
growing this tree is undoubtedly a viable proposition
which could boost the local economy. The study
indicates that though Santa/um album may grow well
across states in India there is no uniform pattern in
heartwood formation and oil content with increasing age
of the tree which may be attributed to varying edaphic
and climatic conditions and source material. The overall
picture that emerges is that sandalwood trees growing
in the largest and last remaining natural sandalwood
reserve in Marayoor, Kerala is not much different from
the sandalwood populations growing elsewhere in India
in terms of rate of heartwood formation but maximum
oil content currently recorded (4-6%) is from this
natural population (Mishra et al., 2017 in press). This
preliminary study is expected to instill confidence
among sandalwood growers and encourage more
farmers to grow sandalwood from seeds obtained from
Marayoor region.
4. Current scenario of sandalwood farming in
northern India
Based on available information the maximum age of
sandalwood plantations grown on farmlands on a large
scale may not be beyond 10 years. Though in some
locations like in Karbi Angling, Assam, Patiala, Punjab,
Seoni, Madhya Pradesh fairly large scale irregular
concentrations of sandalwood trees (> 100 trees) at
high density could be noticed belonging to the State
forest departmenU Govt agencies (Plate 6). There are
some well managed private sandalwood plantations
owned by big business groups like Namdharis, DS
Group, Khodays, etc., which are >10 years old, but
however these companies are reluctant to share data
on growth and yield due to obvious reasons. Some of
the private entities like DS group have raised captive
(4)
sandalwood plantations in a scientific manner
incorporating principles of sound silviculture
management like optimum spacing, appropriate short
term primary hosts and long term secondary hosts as
well as timely pest and disease management measures
(Plate 4). In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states
large commercial sandalwood plantations usually in
excess of 100 acres are being raised by property
developers like Siri Sampada, Shadnagar, Hyderabad,
Chandan Valley plantations, Vizag, Swargaseema
plantations, Hyderabad etc. to name a few. It is worth
mentioning that in general developers/real estate
brokers have vested interests in raising sandalwood
plantations. The general strategy apparently is to entice
prospective buyers to invest in plots by highlighting
financial benefits of sandalwood trees being maintained
in the plots without any long term management plans for
maintaining sandalwood trees. However, large scale
plantations which have come up in recent times in
Western parts of India in Rajasthan, Gujarat and
Maharashtra are being managed with different
objective and managed intensively to maximize returns
(Plate 3 and 5). In these plantations, usually with
secured perimeter fencing and armed guards, the
preference of secondary long term host is for
horticultural species like Indian gooseberry (amla),
pomegranate (anar), Citrus (nimbu), Annona
squamosa (Sitaphal), Psidium guajava (guava), grafted
mango etc. Among forestry crops, short rotation species
likeCasuarina equisetifolia, Melia dubea, Azadirachta
indica (neem) are the more preferred ones.
Considering the success of sandalwood
plantations in Gujarat, an initiative was taken by the
Punjab Forest department (PFD) with IWST Bangalore
in 2014 to popularize sandalwood cultivation by
establishing demonstration plots of sandalwood of one
ha each with horticulture species as secondary host in
Mohali, Ludhiana, Ropar and Hoshiarpur in Punjab
(Plate 5 G).A nursery of raising QPM of sandalwood
following scientific methods was also established in
Bhatoli, Desuya forest division with a capacity for
raising 50,000 seedlings with seeds being supplied by
IWST for three continuous years since 2014.A 20 year
old sandalwood plantation established by PFD in
Birsnour, Patiala, Punjab (Plate 6 A) was also studied by
IWST in 2014 by extracting core samples using Hagloff
increment borer and found to have well-formed heart
wood with oil content of around 2.5% (Table 2). Based
on the positive feedback on prospects of sandalwood
cultivation in Punjab, an initiative has been taken to
organize sandalwood farmers under the banner of
Progressive Chandan Farmers Association of Punjab
(Arun Kurmi. pers. comm., 2017).
 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018

Table 2: Variation in growth, oil % and heartwood content of sandalwood plantations with different secondary
hosts sampled across 9 locations in six states
Sl. Location State Age GBH %HW % Oil Secondary No. of trees
No. group Host sampled in
the age group
1 Muddanhalli, Karnataka 9 44.5±10.38 76.85±8.59 0.81±0.25 Phyllanthus 4
Bangalore emblica
rural dt,
2 Bevanhalli, Karnataka 8 44±5.08 64.77±9.3 0.794±0.35 Grafted Mangifera indica 10
Chickballapur
3 Gungargatti, Karnataka 11 48±9.57 62.89±8.66 1.55±0.49 Misc. 7
Dharwad
4 DSG, Katni, Madhya 9 48±6.88 37.07±13.88 1.89±1.96 Phyllanthus 16
Pradesh emblicaT.arjuna
Pongamia pinnata
5 Birsnour, Punjab 20 80±5.74 62.78±17.76 2.32±0.63 Leucaena 5
Patiala leucocephala
6 Mehsana Gujarat 10 54.2±12.74 43.73±20.38 0.64±0.45 Citrus sp 10
7 Mahua Gujarat 59.83±7.94 67.95±6.33 4.07±0.80 Mangifera indica
8 Sadri Rajasthan 9 56.2±10.94 48.20±21.43 0.45±0.35 Azadirachta indica 5
9 Vellore Tamilnadu 17 58.71±7.36 59.09±11.48 3.92±0.38 NA 14

Plate 1: Mature Sandalwood tree (>20 years) sampled in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. A. Katni (Madhya
Pradesh); B. Dumasal (Madhya Pradesh); C. Sadri (Rajasthan); D. Laknadon, Seoni (Madhya Pradesh); E. Seoni
(Madhya Pradesh); F. TFRI Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh); G. CAZRI Jodhpur (Rajasthan), H. Sadri (Rajasthan).

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 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018

Plate 3: Large Sized mature sandelwood trees in Government Compounds and Forest department areas in Orissa
(A,C,O,F) Punjab (E) and Kerala (B)

The farmers in the state of Gujarat have been one of
the most enterprising farmers and have started raising
sandalwood plantations way back in 2006-07 period.
The oldest private plantation of 15 years noticed was in
Bhavnagar, Gujarat with grafted mango as secondary
host. According to Nitin Patel, President, Gujarat
Sandalwood Growers Association, nearly 20,000 ha is
currently under sandalwood cultivation. During a series
of meetings and interactions with farmers in April 2017
across four districts Bhavnagar, Amreli, Ankleshwar and
Himmat Nagar in Gujarat organized by Gujarat
Sandalwood growers Association in association with
(6)
Agriculture and State Forest Dept certain key problems
in sandalwood cultivation have been identified.
• Quality of planting stock used/procured by farmers
is of dubious quality and from largely unknown
sources which may have serious repercussions in
quality of end product at time of selling and disposal.
• Scientific management inputs have been lacking in
initial stages of raising sandalwood. There have
even been instances in Gujarat where farmers have
raised sandalwood plantation without secondary
host which has naturally resulted in poor growth of
mature plantations.
 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018
• In many cases, too close spacing between
sandalwood trees and between sandalwood and
host plant has happened based on faulty advice of
technically incompetent nurserymen/seedling
suppliers which has also resulted in poor growth of
sandalwood growing stock.
• Many pest and disease problems in early stages of
sandalwood plantations have largely gone
undetected or unnoticed by farmers.
Scientific support from research institutions
especially in pest and disease management is vital for
farmers and has largely been lacking for farmers in
Gujarat. Effective outreach and extension programmes
from State Agricultural universities and State forest
department can play a major role in instilling confidence
among sandalwood farmers in Gujarat.
5. Scope for Sandalwood cultivation in agro-
forestry practices
Santalum album is capable of growing in a wide variety
of soils from gravelly loam and sand clay soils. The most
common soil type on which sandal occurs is the red
ferruginous loam with underlying gneiss which has poor
nutrients. It is able to withstand the soil pH up to 9.0 but
unable to grow in waterlogged sites. In India, sandal
distribution occurs throughout the Deccan plateau and
Plate 3: Large scale commercial sandalwood plantations with various secondary hosts across India.A.3 year old
sandalwood with Casuarina in Vadodara, Gujarat; B. 15 year old Sandalwood in Vellore; C. 13 year old sandalwood
with mango in Mahua, Gujarat; D. 7 yr Sandalwood plantation in Mehsana, Gujarat; E. Sandalwood plantations in
Gungargatti, Dharwad, Karnataka Forest Dept
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more than 90 per cent lies in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The species is capable of growing where rainfall is 500
to even 5000 mm, long dry season duration and
elevation from 0–1800 m.asl. However, the sandalwood
tree can occur even outside this climatic zone and
tolerate extreme temperature from 4 to 46oC. This
plasticity is an added adaptation advantage for
sandalwood when grown under some extreme site
conditions. Sandalwood being a hemi-parasite requires
a primary host, intermediate host as well as a long term
secondary host which gives it tremendous scope in
agroforestry.
With the Karnataka Forest (Amendment) Act 2001
of substitution of Section 83, which recognizes the right
of occupant or land holder to be legally entitled to the
sandal tree in his land, there has been a marked
demand from private entrepreneurs and private farmers
for raising private plantations. High demand of sandal
wood and remunerative prices of sandal heartwood
have motivated private individuals to take up sandal
cultivation on farmlands even though protection issues
are still to be addressed. Farmers have shown an
inclination for horticultural species like Indian
gooseberry (amla), grafted mango, pomegranate,
citrus, sapota, guava, ber, instead of conventional
forestry species as host trees with the objective of
 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018

Plate 4: Large scale sandalwood plantations showing agro-forestry possibilities in Madhya Pradesh. A. Large private
sandalwood plantation in Katni, Madhya Pradesh; B. Sandalwood based agro-forestry with Amla and soybeans; D.
Sandalwood with field beans; D. Growing watermelon in interspaces of plantation (9 years); E. Growing turmeric
successfully in interspaces of 9 year old plantations.

obtaining intermediate returns during the long gestation
of sandalwood. In sandalwood based agro--forestry, a
spacing of 6x3 m with amla at the same spacing in
between sandal in quincuxial design of planting
appears to be promising. This spacing also ensures
cultivation of agricultural crops like horse gram or field
bean or low spreading legume fodder during the initial
years. Currently 5 x4m spacing appears to be more
favored by farmers with host plant planted 2.5m
distance within the sandalwood row and sandalwood
rows separated at 4m distance to promote inter-
cultivation of annual crops like horse gram, pulses etc.
The cost of raising sandal based agroforestry
plantations may be marginally higher than raising
sandal block plantations due to additional intercultural
operations. However this may be more than offset by
periodic additional returns from horticultural crops.
Sandalwood plants in agroforestry practices have been
observed to perform well in terms of growth parameters
possibly due improved soil physico-chemical properties
(Plate 4). However there is a paucity of data on sandal
growth and related heartwood formation under
agroforestry situations. To accommodate higher density
of plants, a spacing of 4x4 m with a long term host like
Casuarina equisetifolia in the center, also at the same
spacing in quincuxial design of planting appears to be
promising.
The total cost of cultivation over the 15 year period
works out to Rs 19.87 lakhs/ha and the total benefits
around Rs 143 lakhs/ha (IWST, 2008). Of the total cost
nearly 30% works out to be protection costs. The
revenue from sandal tree extraction and processing in
15th year works out to Rs 25,000/tree (sapwood, heart
wood and mixed wood including). In the 20th year
Rs 31,400/tree was estimated when the heartwood out
turn from a 15 year old tree was estimated at 3kg/tree
and 4 kg/tree in 2008. (Viswanath et al., 2010).
However, recent estimates in 2017 have put the
heartwood out turn at 15-20kg/tree. An assessment of
viability of different sandal based agroforestry models
viz, sandalwood monoculture plantations and
sandalwood intercropped with another perennial
Emblica officinalis Gaertn (amla) and an annual
Macrotyloma uniflorum (Lam.) Verdc. (horse gram)
using indicators like Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit
Cost (B/C) ratio, Internal Rate of Return (IRR),
Equivalent Annual Income (EAI) at different discount
rates for two different rotation periods (15 and 20 years)
to determine a financially optimal model showed that all
the options were financially viable. Sandalwood block

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 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018

Plate 5: Large scale commercial sandalwood plantations with various secondary hosts across India. A. Sandalwood
with primary host Alternanthera and citrus as secondary host; B. Sandalwood with Casuarina; C. Sandalwood with
red sanders as secondary host; D. Sandalwood with Acacia auriculiformis as secondary host; E. Sandalwood with
Melia dubea as secondary host; F. Sandalwood with red sanders as secondary host; G. Sandalwood with amla as
secondary host.

plantation with 15 years rotation gave the highest NPV
(Rs.2683088 at 10% and Rs.1252693 at 15%), B/C
ratio (4.4 at 10% and 3.3 at 15%), IRR (33%), EAI
(Rs.35, 2756 at 10% and 21, 42312 at 15%) However
for farmers who prefer regular cash flow, the sandal +
amla + horse gram in a 15 rotation is recommended.
(IWST, 2008).When the financial analysis was done by
IWST in 2008, the yield and growth estimations were
based on secondary data and projections were made
based on that. Now however, actual data has started
emerging regarding growth and yield of heartwood in
sandalwood under cultivated conditions. Recently in
2017, KSDL had procured around 75 mature
sandalwood trees (18years age) having a gbh ranging
from 60 to 75cm from a farmland in Nelamangala near
Bangalore. On an average the trees yielded 15kg
heartwood and around 6kg mixed wood and were
valued at Rs 22,000 /tree. KSDL valued the trees after
fixing a rate of Rs 6400/kg heartwood, Rs 2000/kg
mixed wood, Rs 80/kg of sapwood and Rs 30/kg bark &
chips (KSDL, pers.comm).
6. Challenges of Sandalwood farming in India
To counter challenges in physical protection of mature
trees (from 10th year onwards) from theft, farmers have
to invest in securing the plantation by investing in
tamper proof boundary walls, engaging security staff for
patrolling along with trained dogs especially in large
scale plantation areas. Remote surveillance systems
similar to home security systems are being
implemented by companies like Hitachi India Pvt Ltd in
recent times. However these are still in the R&D phase
and have not been fully commercialized as yet. Due to
the long gestation period of sandalwood (15-20years)
under farming situations, the main challenge is to
generate a sustained income during the period to meet
the cost of protection and maintenance. The opportunity
in sandalwood agro-forestry is to introduce horticulture
species as secondary host along with short term

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 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018

Plate 6: Scattered sandalwood plantations of state forest departments have problems regarding maintenance and
security. A. 20 year plantation Punjab Forest Dept., Patiala, Punjab; B. 20 year old trees at TFRI, Jabalpur, MP; C. 13
year old Sandalwood plantation in Biodiversity park in Karbi Anglong of Assam Forest Department; D. Some 13 year
old trees in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh Forest department

primary hosts and annual intercrops whenever and
wherever possible. Horticulture crops like
pomegranate, guava, citrus, Syzigium cumini (Jamun),
grafted mango, grafted Indian gooseberry (amla),
custard apple (sitaphal) have been tried out by farmers
across India with varying degrees of success. However
there is no standard package of practices available on
horticulture crops depending on soil, climate and
market. ICAR institutions engaged in agroforestry
research in semiarid areas like CAFRI, Jhansi, CRIDA,
and Hyderabad should set up sandalwood based
agroforestry demonstration plots with horticulture
species as secondary hosts for demonstration to
farmers incor-porating latest scientific technologies and
R&D inputs. This will perhaps go a long way to promote
sandalwood in combination with horticulture in the
country.
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7. Suggestions to promote sandalwood based
agroforestry across India
Since the challenges faced in sandalwood farming
are huge while meeting the expectations of the farming
community, only a concerted effort can help in solving
some of the technical and management problems faced
by farmers and other stakeholders. If some precautions
are taken by farmers while procuring planting stock and
also while maintaining sandalwood plantations in field
the quality of the output can be ensured and also
quantity can be enhanced. Some suggested steps to
promote sandalwood cultivation are outlined below
• Only Quality planting material (QPM) stock where
seed source is known should be procured by farmers for
planting purposes.
 Indian Journal of Tropical Biodiversity, 26(1) 2018
• Sandalwood plants procured should be raised only
by certified and accredited nurseries. The certification
agency could be the various institutes of ICFRE/state
Forest departments/public sector undertakings like
KSDL Karnataka.
• Scientific management inputs should be adhered to
in initial stages of raising sandalwood like spacing,
host management, intercropping, pruning of
sandalwood trees, fertilization, drip irrigation and
pest management. There is 5 day training
programme on sandalwood being conducted at
Institute of Wood science and Technology (IWST),
Bangalore twice a year which can be accessed in the
website (http://iwst.icfre.gov.in/). Prospective
farmers and nursery men can register for the training
and get scientific and practical inputs on
sandalwood cultivation.
• Currently there are innumerable half-baked
nurserymen turned 'consultants' masquerading as
sandalwood experts. Prospective sandalwood
farmers should be able to sift the grains from the
chaff and not fall prey to them. It is always better to
enter into an MOU with Govt. agencies like IWST,
KSDL etc for continued support in plantation
programmes.
• Protection of growing sandalwood trees has become
a major constraint for farmers. Protection of trees
requires an investment cost equivalent to 30 % of the
expected revenue. Rather than relying on physical
protection of trees, farmers could explore the
possibilities of installing remote surveillance and
protection systems that is available and being
offered by companies like Hitachi India Pvt Ltd.
• Rules and regulations regarding procurement of
sandalwood from farmers by private entities need to
be explored for enhancing profits to cultivator.
Currently a monopsony situation exists where there
is only a single buyer in the market which is the
Forest Dept or Govt undertakings. Markets need to
be liberalized further which will fall under the ambit of
policy and governance.
• Currently there are no schemes by commercial
financial institutions on sandalwood tree insurance.
It is desirable that nationalized banks come forward
with finance schemes for sandalwood cultivation.
Insurance companies should also float schemes on
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tree insurance like in the case of horticulture crops.
Currently some State Medical Plant Boards are
encouraging sandalwood cultivation by offering
subsidy schemes which is an added incentive.
CONCLUSION
Commercial cultivation of sandalwood has been
gaining impetus in India since liberalization of rules
regarding sandalwood cultivation in 2001 and 2002 in
traditional sandalwood growing states of Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu. Initially sandalwood farming took off in a big
way in non-traditional sandalwood areas in states like
Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. In recent
times there has been a spurt in sandalwood farming in
states like Maharashtra, Telengana, and Andhra
Pradesh. Among the south Indian states cultivation has
picked up in Northern Karnataka and drier tracts of
Tamil Nadu while Kerala is nowhere in the picture
despite the last remaining vestige of natural
sandalwood forest reserve being located in Maryoor,
Kerala. Survey on sandalwood plantations raised in
private lands and forest lands in Northern, Central,
Eastern and Western parts of the country have showed
that heartwood initiation happens generally between 6-
9 years of age and the rate of heartwood formation and
oil content per cent does not vary much when compared
to sandalwood growing in traditional growing areas.
Sandalwood farming especially sandalwood based
agro-forestry practices has immense potential in terms
of revenue generation and optimal utilization of land and
resources. Available information suggests this may
indeed be the way forward provided quality planting
stock is made available, sound scientific silvicultural
and management principles followed and smart e-
protection of trees practiced.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are thankful for the support extended by
Director, IWST, and Bangalore for carrying out this
work. Financial support by way of research grant from
National Medicinal Plant Board (NMPB), Govt. of India
is gratefully acknowledged.
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