It’s good news for the farmers of Karnataka, as the Bommai govt introduced a new policy that would meet the growing demands of sandalwood both domestically and internationally. Under the Sandalwood policy 2022 the state govt liberates the marketing of sandalwood from govt control and which means, the farmers of the state can not only cultivate sandalwood on their fields but also sell them in the open market.
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The announcement was made at a press briefing that was addressed by Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar. “We will use technology to provide protection to farms like installing microchips that can help detect theft,” said the minister asserting that new policy envisages measure to provide protection to sandalwood farms. Incorporating the use of technology, the state govt has decided to insert a chip in the tress would enable farmers to detect thefts.
Speaking about the purchase of the sandalwood the minister said that the govt would make arrangements to purchase the sandalwood for state-run Karnataka Soaps and detergents besides, private parties would also procure them directly from the farmers. He added that farmers would be guided on sandalwood selling.
Selling sandalwood in the open market was flagged illegal by the state govt. At present felling of sandalwood trees and their transportations is titled illegal and subjected to punishment on violation of norms. Karnataka is one of the major producers of sandalwood across the country.
