INDORE: For the first time, the forest department has started growing the much profitable red sandalwood at its nursery in Indore since the Central government has now granted permission to all state to sell the plant if it does not hamper its survival. Earlier these plants were being sold only by Andhra Pradesh government.The demand for the most expensive and religiously important wood has increased thanks to its medicinal and other advantages. The plant with biological name Pterocarpus Santalinus, is among the most over exploited timber of south India, where it is mainly found in eastern ghats mountain range. The red sandalwood is known for its red color wood. It is not aromatic as the regular sandalwood.Being an endangered species as per the International Union for Conservation of Nation (IUCN) ranking, the timber of red sandalwood cannot be traded without permission.The seeds of the plants being grown in Indore were procured from Jabalpur and were sown two months ago. The tiny saplings have grown to a size of six inch in the past two months. A total 200 plants were germinated at the nursery in the forest department’s office at Navratanbagh.“The plants are being kept in a controlled chamber, where adequate moisture is being provided to them. We had ordered for a total of one kilogram seeds, of which 200 plants have sprouted. These plants are being grown in soil mixed with the vermicompost,” Navratanbagh nursery in charge Sanjay Singh Sengar said.“The plant grows to a maximum height of 15 metre. The requirement of the plant in terms of temperature and rainfall suits the climate in Madhya Pradesh region. These saplings are being grown in Indore as well as Jabalpur on public demand,” APCCF (research and extension) PC Dubey said.The wood has special significance in Japanese and Chinese culture for making furniture and musical instruments.

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