Tarikere farmer inspires sandalwood cultivation among Malawi agriculturists

How about the fragrance of our own sandalwood transcending boundaries, touching a small nation in South Eastern Africa?

A farmer from Tarikere in Chikkamagaluru district has made this possible with a farmer in Malawi evincing interest in taking up sandalwood cultivation on a large scale.

T N Vishukumar from Tarikere, who has 1,800 sandalwood trees to his credit at his farm, had recently visited government-owned Forestry Research Institute of Malawi (FRIM) and national tree seed centre, Zomba, South Eastern Africa, to share his expertise.

Kumar attributes it to a report published in DH throwing light on his sandalwood farming, in May 2009. The report had caught the attention of African country, that has fructified with his recent visit.

Agri activities
Kumar had gone on invitation from Pacific Limited Company, a firm involved in large-scale agricultural activities. He shared the knowledge on sandalwood plantation, with African farmer Ismail, who is planning to plant the saplings on a large tract of 5,000 acres at Zomba city - also the administrative capital of Zomba district in that country.

The officials at FRIM collected sandalwood seeds from Kumar, to conduct some experiments before giving permission to Ismail.

Kumar has also brought home soil of Malawi and has sent the same for test at institute of wood science and technology, Malleswaram in Bengaluru. It is a research centre working under the Union ministry of Environment and Forests.