{"id":370862,"date":"2026-09-02T14:14:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T08:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=370862"},"modified":"2026-09-02T14:14:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T08:44:28","slug":"sandalwood-santalum-album-and-its-cultivation-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/sandalwood-santalum-album-and-its-cultivation-in-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandalwood (Santalum album) and its Cultivation in India"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-box-green\">\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong> India is reviving sandalwood cultivation, but its success will depend on scientific tree management and changes in regulatory policies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box\">About Sandalwood (Santalum album) and its Cultivation in India<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 262px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/agritech.tnau.ac.in\/forestry\/Industrial%20Forestry-Sandalwood_clip_image002.jpg?resize=262%2C197&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Sandalwood (Santalum album) and its Cultivation in India\" width=\"262\" height=\"197\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: TNAU Agritech Portal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sandalwood<\/strong> is a<strong> hemi-root parasitic plant,<\/strong> which means that it <strong>depends<\/strong> on other<strong> host plants for nutrients and water <\/strong>throughout its life cycle.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Biological name:<\/strong> Its biological name is<strong> Santalum album.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Distribution:<\/strong> It is distributed in <strong>India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, East Asia, Eastern Indonesia, and northern Australia<\/strong>, inhabiting mainly <strong>dry tropical regions.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Cultivation in India:<\/strong> In India, they are more concentrated in the<strong> southern region, especially Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In recent years, cultivation has also expanded beyond the traditional southern states to <strong>Telangana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and parts of northern India.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>In 2024, sandalwood plantations covered an estimated <strong>23,000\u201330,000 hectares<\/strong> and were <strong>increasing<\/strong> by around <strong>600 hectares each year<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Properties:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is c<strong>ommercially known as the East Indian sandalwood<\/strong> and<strong> its oil the East Indian sandalwood oil.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is the <strong>second most expensive wood <\/strong>in the world<strong>, <\/strong>next to the <strong>African Blackwood (<\/strong>Dalbergia melanoxylon).<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>heartwood<\/strong> that constitutes the <strong>central part of the tree <\/strong>is valued for its<strong> fragrance.<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is described as<strong> astringent, bitter, moderately hard, heavy, durable, yellow or brown in appearance<\/strong>, with an <strong>oily texture<\/strong> and is an exquisite material for carving intricate designs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>outer wood (sapwood)<\/strong> or any other part of the tree has<strong> no scent.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is <strong>hardy, drought-tolerant, <\/strong>requires<strong> fewer nutrients and <\/strong>can grow in<strong> different soil <\/strong>conditions<strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Uses:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is widely used to make decorative and household items such as <strong>boxes, combs, jewellery cases and picture frames. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>It is also considered<strong> sacred<\/strong> and is used in<strong> religious ceremonies, prayers and meditation. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The <strong>unscented sapwood<\/strong> is used for items<strong> like incense sticks.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Sandalwood oil is<strong> widely used in perfumes, cosmetics, aromatherapy and medicines.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Benefits for farmer:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It is a <strong>high-value, climate-smart tree<\/strong> that can improve the <strong>environmental resilience<\/strong> of plantations.<\/li>\n<li>It can be grown in <strong>block plantations,<\/strong> along farm <strong>boundaries<\/strong> and with <strong>other crops<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Market projection:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The global sandalwood market,<strong> valued at $265.8 million in 2023, is expected to reach $502.2 million by 2030. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The sandalwood oil market is <strong>also projected to grow from $182.5 million in 2024 to $388.1 million by 2035.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; border-style: solid;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\n<h2 class=\"red-h2-box yellow-h2-box\">Geographical Conditions for Sandalwood Cultivation<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Its cultivation thrives in following conditions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Soil:<\/strong>\u00a0It requires <strong>well-drained soil<\/strong> and <strong>cannot tolerate waterlogging<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>It can grow in a <strong>wide range of soils, including gravelly loam and sandy-clay soils. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Red ferruginous loam with underlying gneiss<\/strong> is the most common soil.<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>slightly alkaline soil<\/strong> with a <strong>pH of 6.7\u20137.5<\/strong> is suitable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong data-start=\"1158\" data-end=\"1174\">Rainfall: <\/strong>It can grow in areas receiving about <strong data-start=\"1214\" data-end=\"1242\">500\u20135,000 mm of rainfall<\/strong> and can tolerate a <strong data-start=\"1262\" data-end=\"1281\">long dry season<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong data-start=\"1378\" data-end=\"1397\">Temperature: <\/strong>It can tolerate a wide temperature range of about <strong data-start=\"1450\" data-end=\"1465\">4\u00b0C to 46\u00b0C<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Climate and Altitude:<\/strong> Sandalwood grows best in <strong>warm conditions<\/strong> at an altitude of <strong>700\u20131,100 m<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>However, it can grow from about <strong>300 to 1,500 m<\/strong> above sea level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The sandalwood tree<strong> growing time is relatively long,<\/strong> typically taking around <strong>15 to 20 years to reach maturity<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News: India is reviving sandalwood cultivation, but its success will depend on scientific tree management and changes in regulatory policies. About Sandalwood (Santalum album) and its Cultivation in India Sandalwood is a hemi-root parasitic plant, which means that it depends on other host plants for nutrients and water throughout its life cycle. Biological name: Its&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/sandalwood-santalum-album-and-its-cultivation-in-india\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Sandalwood (Santalum album) and its Cultivation in India<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,4182,11209,12039],"tags":[11872,10504],"class_list":["post-370862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-environment","category-geography-in-news","category-knolls","tag-9pm-daily-factly","tag-down-to-earth","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}