Sandal wood and our links to it
Why we should care about it being such a rare commodity and act now?
Balakrishnan Venkataraman
22 February 2023
Sandalwood means a lot to me personally. I use Mysore sandal wood soap since my early childhood days. Sandal wood paste is a must for any thing auspicious in our homes as well as celebrations. Freshly ground sandal wood paste using original piece of sandalwood in a specific stone is customary in our home as it is in many of our communities households. I have watched and learned the art of making sandalwood paste from fresh wood over the years and it is one of the activities done as part of rituals. I have also experienced the end use of sandalwood as it is left in the pyre.
Obviously such extensive use of a commodity cannot be so common but for the fact that it should have been in abundance. But today it has become a rare commodity and is priced beyond the reach of most of us. The wood is at Rs 16000 plus per kg ($200). It is pricey to say the least and you can imagine the cost of sandalwood oil that is extracted out of the wood. A sandalwood sapling takes minimum of 14 years plus to become a tree and it is best to put to use after 20 years. The tree roots carry the maximum oil content and can produce just 60 gm per kg of sandal wood. Overall adding the stem and branches, the total weight of the tree is around 100 kg. After removing the hardwood, the core which is the sandalwood portion is about 20 kg, which yields 600 ml of oil pure oil. The residue is also of value as it is used in incense sticks and sold as powder for paste etc.
. Over exploitation must be the reason for its scarcity I thought, until I heard an episode of The Seen and Unseen by Amit Verma where one of the guest Mr. Raghu S Jaitley narrated the background of the reason for the scarcity of this wood now. As I looked at the available data I found another interesting episode of Business Insider, explainer, a short video which summarises the issues well. Let me sum it up here.
90% of the sandal wood of the world used to be produced in Indian 3 states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil nadu. This was till we gained independence. We were producing 2000 tonnes in 1965 and today we are producing 200 tons and the rest of the demand is met by imports from Australia.
First time it became a governments property was when East India company realised the importance of the sandalwood as there was demand for it in China. But here the major growing centres were under Tipu Sultan, who sensing the opportunity to put spokes in East India company’s business made Sandalwood trees as royal property. Britishers after defeating did it for their trade interests. Post independence the government continued without application of its mind and till date it continues.
Today you need permission to grow sandalwood tree in your home and if you want to cut it, you have to call the appointed agency of the government to come and do the honours. Post cutting you may get upto 75% of the value estimated by the agency.
But the demand still exists. So Australians saw an opportunity and started growing it. Now they are the major exporters of Sandalwood and we import from them. Their wood quality is inferior. So much for the government’s intervention!
Recently there are moves to undo the shackles and allow building sandalwood farms. Tirumala has started this and hopes to become self sustaining after 2025.
I have a piece of sandalwood weighing about 250 gms., which I inherited from my parents. My parents was gifted the sandalwood piece in 1950 when they attended a wedding in Shimoga Karnataka. This wood was split and shared equally between me and my sister. Hope my progeny can at least go and buy fresh sandalwood for use at their homes as the one I have would become smaller as I hand over to my children. It will become minuscule when it gets apportioned between my grand children for sure. Today buying sandalwood is a process. You have to apply for buying at the Deputy Forrest officer Mysore and pay advance in the form of DD for the quantity you intend to buy.
Sandalwood was available in abundance and was exploited for sure. But it was grown in abundance as we have the specific weather conditions and the species is natural to Indian. It was being grown by everyone until the government stepped in and tried to control it. It is time all this is changed for the benefit of us and pursue our desire to continue with the tradition close to our hearts, celebrations.
It makes no sense that the government should keep control on growing sandal trees. The article kindles my own memories . We have a piece of wood and stone for making sandal paste. We, the cousins used to fight for the honour of making paste on auspicious occasions. Due to repeated use, the stone was worn off with a wide groove at the Center. For long I used to imagine it was the stone which gave the paste !
Wow. Man can make and break. I didn’t read the links but I wonder why was the government engaged as a controller? Are there some negative effects of growing sandalwood? I do love the smell of sandalwood - it reminds me of you! We use sandalwood powder and soap and use the readymade mix for poojai. I hope Adu grows up to love the smell as I do!