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Under the new system, while the grower will be paid after the sale of tree, the Government will continue to regulate cutting and transportation of the trees and will deduct this cost from the sale proceeds.

BANGALORE, June 3

THE Karnataka Government will come out with a new set of rules soon to liberalise sandalwood cultivation.

The rules are part of a new thrust to tap the State's sandalwood wealth and are meant to curb the large-scale smuggling of the precious trees, the Forest & Ecology Minister, Mr K.H. Ranganath, said today.

They will allow the implementation of its recent decontrol order, which allows individuals to freely grow and own sandalwood trees, while informing the Government when they mature.

The State is also studying similar rules of Kerala and Tamil Nadu where sandalwood is an unrestricted area of cultivation, Mr Ranganath told reporters.

Sandalwood forms the largest plantation within the forests and is grown in over 2 lakh hectares of forests.

Under the new system, while the grower will be paid after the sale of tree, the Government will continue to regulate cutting and transportation of the trees and will deduct this cost from the sales proceeds.

The decontrol order repeals earlier rules which barred individuals from growing sandalwood trees; any trees grown in the State automatically became a Government property.

The new strategy, he said, would also perk up the two Government-owned sandalwood oil factories, which have been hit by shortage of sandalwood.

The proposal will also cover bamboo, which, like sandalwood, has a huge commercial potential.

Meanwhile, the demand for eucalyptus and acacia has fallen due to the Centre's policy to import pulp and the Government is left with huge stocks, he said.

Following a Supreme Court's blanket ban on a PIL not to cut forest produce without its permission, precious timber, deadwood and matured trees in the 37 forest divisions have not been touched for three years. This includes several rosewood trees in Uttara Kannada, Virajpet and trees in 447 hectares of Muthodi forests, where assets have not been valued.

A working plan is under way for trees in 14 of the 37 forest divisions. The State plans to submit a proposal to the Centre to seek its help in getting the apex court's permission, Mr Ranganath said.

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