The Hindu Business Line : Sandalwood farmers smell success

Chitradurga, Nov. 9 By selling around six tonnes of sandalwood to the Karnataka Soaps and Detergent Ltd (KSDL), Mr S.C. Veerabhdrappa, a sandalwood farmer of Molakalmur taluk of Chitradurga district, has become the first person in the State to sell this wood directly to KSDL after the amendment in Karnataka Forest Rules, 1969.

Confirming this news, the District Forest Officer, Mr Srinivasalu, said that recently the officials of KSDL visited Mr Veerabhdrappa’s fields and directly purchased the wood.

About the amendment, he said earlier it was the Forest Department which was purchasing the sandalwood before selling it to the agencies such as KSDL or Karnataka State Handicraft Development Corporation (KSHDC).

Without the amendment, the cultivators were facing hardship as they had to sell the wood to the Forest Department, and wait for years to get money as the value of the wood is calculated only after dressing up of the wood. “Now, within a maximum of six months, they get the money, besides receiving 10 per cent of approximate cost in advance,” the officer said.

Mr Veerabhdrappa who has been cultivating this scented wood over a decade in his 80 acre land, said that he is expecting nearly Rs 5 lakh from the selling. About cultivation, he said that sandalwood is one such plant which could be grown in any soil along with any other plant as it is a semi-parasitic plant. “The plant is not only popular for its fragrance but also has medicinal properties. Thus, the cost of each kilogram of sandalwood ranges between Rs 2,500 and Rs 4,000 in the market,” he said.

Asked about the amendment, though he feels happy, however, he urges the Government for more flexibility in selling the wood mainly to facilitate small farmers.

As far as the security is concerned, he said that the farmers would indeed to face imminent security threats, until the plant is widely cultivated. The Government should popularise it by giving more schemes, at the same time banks should also come forward to lend loans, he opined.

With regard to the promotional schemes, Mr Srinivasalu said that the department has planned to distribute nearly 50,000 saplings this year in the district. The Bio-diversity Board under medicinal plants category is giving 75 per cent subsidy for cultivating sandalwood, he said.

More Stories on : Agricultural Policy | Soaps & Detergents | Karnataka

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