Teak Trees

Teak Wood Farming Project Report, Cost and Profit

Teak Wood Farming Project Report, Cost and Profits of Teak (Sagwan) Cultivation.

Introduction to the Teak Wood Farming Project Report.

Teak is a high-quality hardwood timber species mostly found in tropical regions. This is one of the most valuable and high-priced timber crops in India. It is a deciduous, large tree growing long reaching 30 to 40m in height. The hardwood is yellowish brown in color and darkens as the trees grow old; A newly cut wood smells leather-like. The teak tree is a tall evergreen tree producing large leaf just like tobacco leaf. The leaf is ovate and elliptical with an upper surface rough and underneath it has hairs. Flowers of the tree are bluish-white with fruits that are fleshy with thin skin and a thick knobby shell containing the seed. The tree sapwood or outer wood is whitish grey and can easily separate from heartwood. A teak plantation is a profitable crop with the government giving subsidies for its promotion. Teak plantations are widely established in the peninsular regions and grown in all parts of India becoming a local cultural and socioeconomic system. Teak can grow well in moisturized regions and with tropical environment produces good quality teak wood. It’s first recorded in the year 1842-62; teak plantation first started in Kerala for industrial purposes by Mr.ChatuMenonhas raised more than a million teak trees and is considered as ‘Father of Indian Teak Plantation’. Teak is native to forest regions of India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Thailand. Teak is grown as an exotic species and ranked in many countries as a high priority species, but is limited to less than medium scale planting. There are many factors affecting the success of teak plantation such as site quality, seed quality, and other biological factors.

Scientific/Botanical name of Teak Wood

The botanical or scientific name of the Teak Wood tree is ‘Tectonagrandis’ and the plant comes from the family Lamiaceae. The other teak species include Tectonagrandia, Tectonaphilippinensis, and Tectonahamiltoniana.

Other names of Teak Wood Tree

Teak tree or Teak Wood is called by many other names such as Burma teak, Rangoon teak, Saka, Sanwan wood, Moulmein teak, tekka, African teak (Afromosia), Brazilian Teak (Cumaru), kyun, rosawa, and maisak.

Teak Wood in Indian Languages

Gujarati –સાગ (Sāga),

Malayalam – തേക്ക് (tēkk),
Telugu – టేకు (Ṭēku),
Kannada –ತೇಕ್ (Tēk),
Tamil – தேக்கு (Tēkku),
Hindi – सागौन (teak),
Bangle – সেগুনকাঠ (Sēgunakāṭha),
Marathi – सागवंडे (Sāgavaṇḍē),
Punjabi –  ਟੀਕ (Ṭīka).

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Teak Wood Varieties/Teak Wood Cultivars

Teak heartwood is differentiated according to the log dimensions. The teak pricing mainly depends on the grain and color of the heartwood. The wood appearance and characteristics are different depending on the development and origin of the trees. Teak wood trees that are nourished in a different region having different climatic conditions, exhibit change in the Heartwood quality, color, and appearance.

Nilambur Teak Wood: Also known as Malabar teak. It got its name for its organized teak plantation started in 1842 in Nilambur, Kerala. This place is famous for its teak museum. This variety grows fast having straight grain with golden yellowish brown color heartwood. The tree yields larger log dimensions often with darker streaks. Nilambur teak is famous for shipbuilding trade and the wood is also used for furniture and in other things.

Myanmar Teak: Also commonly known as Burma teak. This tree variety, mostly from natural growth has slow wood growth. The heartwood has close grain with darker color fetching the highest price in the world market. Myanmar teak fetches 32 times more returns on investment in 25 years. Teak trees planted in suitable sites with very low input management fetches high returns.

West African Teak: This teak wood is little inferior to that of Asian teak. The heartwood has black streaks with a twisted or wavy grain.

Paratwada Teak: It gets its name from the region Paratwada in Amravati district of Maharashtra. This place is famous as its one of the biggest suppliers of teak wood in Asia.

Central and South American Teak: This variety of tree wood is lighter in color. The tree produces small dimensional logs yielding less heartwood.

Adilabad Teak: This variety of wood comes from a place Adilabad situated in the northern tip of Andhra Pradesh state. Adilabad has a forest area of nearly 7,000 sq. km and grows in the Rajulmaddugu forest region. The heartwood has an attractive surface with a rose color fetching a higher price.

Central Province Teak: Also known as CPT as it’s found in the central regions of India. This variety of tree has slow growth. The teak trees that are found in drier regions have close grain with a deeper color. This teak fetches higher prices.

Godavari Teak: This teak comes from east and west Godavari regions in Andhra Pradesh. Backyard or home garden grown teak has bends and knots affecting the price of the wood as it’s defective. Teak wood from wet regions is pale in color while teak wood from dry regions is darker golden brown in color. The wood looks attractive for the black streaks while fetching a good market price. Teak wood from wet regions is susceptible to brown rot fungi.

Konni Teak: These teak trees are grown in the hilly regions of Konni in Kerala. The teak wood has close grain with a slow growth rate and dark in color. The wood is stronger than Nilambur teak.

Other Teak Wood in India: Depending on the regions spread out in India, India produces other varieties such as Mysore teak, Balharshah teak, Nagpur teak, and Konkan teak. The wood gets their name for natural habitat growth in the forest areas of their respective regions.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Climate and Soil requirement for Teak Wood Farming

Teak trees grow well from dry regions to moisturized regions. The quality of the teak wood greatly depends on the regions they are grown, trees that are grown in tropical environmental regions produces good quality wood. Teak trees can sustain high temperatures between 38° to 45°C and low temperatures between 12° to 16° C. Regions that are moist and warm tropical climate are highly preferred for its proper growth. Teak species demand sunlight for proper tree development. Teak grows well in regions with high rainfall (over 3500 mm) to low rainfall regions (800 to 2500 mm).

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Land preparation in Teak Wood Farming

The land for Teak Wood farming should be cleared of bushes, weed roots. Any stumps in the land should be properly destroyed along with stone removal. Prepare the land with two to three plowings bringing the soil to a fine tilth. Mix the field with farmyard or cow dung manure or with compost in the last plow. Avoid water stagnation in the field. Dig pits of 45 x 45 x 45cm, fill the pits with soil mixed with farmyard manure along with herbicides and insecticides in each pit.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Seed Treatment in Teak Wood Farming

Teak fruits have thick and hard mesocarp with seed within. The thick mesocarp is responsible for slow germination rate as the thick seed coat makes water and air to penetrate. Germination in most regions it is 30 to 50%, while in dry regions it is very low about 5 to 10% success rate. Pre-treatment of seeds will increase the germination rate. The seeds are soaked in water for 12 hours and dried in sunlight the next 12 hrs. By repeating this process for one to two weeks will allow air and water to penetrate the seed coat. Before sowing the seeds should be treated for early and uniform seed germination.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Propagation in Teak Wood Farming

Teak is propagated in the following ways:

a. Seed Propagation:

In this method, healthy seeds that are not contaminated are treated and used for sowing in the nursery.

b. Vegetative Propagation:

In this method, select shoots that are about two to three weeks old. The shoots (5 to 7 cm long) must be hairy, bright green with three pairs of leaves and somewhat cylindrical shape shoots are ideal.  The shoots should be straight up and avoid that grow sideways. Trim leaves to retain about one third and cut obliquely at the shoot base. Dip the base for 5 to 10 mins in indole butyric acid (IBA). Plant the shoots in nursery trays till they develop roots.

c. Tissue Culture Propagation:

This method is also known as clonal propagation. This is done by using tissues or organs from a plant growing in a special sterile media. Shootlets are produced in a lab and then transferred to the greenhouse for root development. The rooted plantlets or shootlets are then transplanted to the main field or for stock production. In this method, a large number of clones with the same traits as the parent tree can be produced up to thousand clones for commercial propagation.

Spacing and Planting in Teak Wood Farming

Spacing and planting of teak plants are crucial in Teak Wood farming. Planting teak seedling densely will help plant stems to grow straighter and faster height growth. Planting teak seedlings with more spacing will produce larger stem diameters. There are two ways of planting in Teak Wood; monoculture and intercropping methods. Intercropping is carried out to gain extra income by growing chili, maize, but avoid creeper vegetables, paddy, and jute. In a monoculture, the common spacing is 2 x 2 m or 3 x 3 m. It is recommended for a combination of dense spacing in the early years for straighter and faster height growth followed by thinning to promote larger stem growth in diameter.

Design the land by alignment and staking for marking pit digging. Planting should be carried out during monsoon preferably after the first rain. Plant each pit with sprouted stumps or young sapling. For planting seeds, follow the Cemplongon system by placing two to three seeds in each pit. Consistent spacing in Teak Wood farming makes maintenance easy giving a good and the clean plantation look. Competition for moisture, light, air circulation and nutrients between trees gets reduced, allowing the stem and canopy to grow healthy.

 Irrigation in Teak Wood Farming

Provide drip irrigation for the plants at their growing stage. Trees that are grown under irrigation grew faster with an increased sapwood content leading to weak heartwood. Provide irrigation in summer season during stress conditions and avoid irrigation during rainy or monsoon season. Excess irrigation will lead to water blisters in teak trees, due to excess storage of water the inner Heartwood may develop to rot and chances of fungi attack will be highly damaging to the tree. Teak requires annual rainfall between 1250 to 3500 mm per year; however, to attain good quality teak wood the trees require at least three to four months of dry or less than 60 mm precipitation.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Manures and Fertilizers in Teak Wood Farming

At the time of planting, each pit must be filled with a mixture of soil with 10 kg of farmyard manure or compost along with insecticides. The simpler way of filling the pit is by mixing 3 parts of soil with 2 parts of manure or with a mixture of 1 part of soil and 1 part of rice husk with 2 parts of compost. Each year during the months of August and September prepares a mixture of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium in equal ratios. Apply 50 grams in the first year, 100 grams in the second year and 150 grams in the third year. Application of fertilizer is done by making 10 to 15 cm deep holes around the tree stem in a circular at a distance of 50 to 150 cm.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Intercultural operations in Teak Wood Farming

Weeding:

In young Teak Wood farming weeds such as grass, shrubs, and vines should be cleared regularly around the teak plants. As the tree grows and matures after the canopy closes, weeding can be carried in less frequency. Weeds, when left uncontrolled compete with light and nutrients, hinder the teak plant growth and even may kill the teak plants.

Pruning of Teak Plants:

Pruning of the trees should be carried out for the third year. Pruning is carried out in the removal of unnecessary branches from the lower half of the tree by helping the tree increase bole height and reducing knots on the main stem. This also helps to concentrate on the growth of the tree on its main stem and canopy. Young and small branches or twigs are pruned during the early monsoon season.

Thinning of Teak Plants:

Thinning in Teak Wood farming helps maximize tree growth and prevents the disease. Thinning is carried on the trees that are stressed, slow growth rate trees, and unhealthy ones. Harvested trees that are 10 cm diameter at the time of thinning can be sold as timber for construction sites while the smaller ones for firewood.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Pests and Diseases in Teak Wood Farming

The tree termite called Inger-Inger (Neotermestectonae) cause swelling on the trunk and branches. Infestation in the teak tree can happen as young as three years old, but the visibility of infestation will be observed when the tree turns seven years old. To control, remove the infected trees before the rainy season when Inger-Inger begin to emerge and by thinning helps prevent the spreading. Fumigant insecticides such as one-fourth tablet of phostoxin or Meothrin 50 EC.

Stem borer called Ulan-Ulan (Monohammus rusticator) pest also causes swelling and holes in the stems resulting to broken stems. To control, inject fumigant insecticides at the infected parts or holes in the stems.

The wetwood borer (Xyleborusdestruens) bores transverse holes commonly in the young stems of teak trees that are five years old or older. To control and eliminate the attack of wetwood borer, use insecticides such as Brash 25 EC, Enborer 100 EC, Dragnet 380 EC, Lentrek 400 EC, and Cislin 2.5 EC.

Caterpillars such as Pyraustamachaeralis, Eutectonamachaerallis and Hyblaeapuera feed on teak leaves causes tree defoliation. The infestation will only last for a week. Teak caterpillars when become pupae will fall on the ground while some farmers collect in the morning hours to eat or sell. Though the attack is not harmful to teak farms, but in severe attack use insecticides such as Decis 2.5 EC, Matador 25 EC, or Ambush 2 EC.

Pupae pests such as Holotrichiahelleri and Lepidiota stigma attack the young seedling roots. Even one and two-year-old tree roots are attacked causing trees whither and even leading to death due to root damage. To control the adult beetles are caught at night by luring to bright lights and then destroyed. By using insecticides that contain carbofuran, diazinon, indofuranpetrofur, and etoprofosin the planting pits during planting will control the pest.

Wilt is another disease caused by bacterium Pseudomonas tectonae. The disease attack is commonly on young teak seedlings and plants. The early symptoms include light and brown patches. Leaves start to wilt and the leaves turn pale or yellowish. Use Agrept 20 WP, Basamid G, and Starner 20 WP will control this bacterial wilt attack.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Teak Tree Felling Permission and Transit Regulations

Andhra Pradesh: No restrictions on felling of trees grown on private lands.  In the case of ‘Tree Patta’ felling of the tree can be done at the end of the rotation period with prior permission from the Divisional Forest Officer.

Bihar: Prior permission must be obtained from the local Zonal Officer and the patta holder will have full rights over the cut tree. The felling of the only matured tree can be undertaken and replaced by planting another tree.

Gujarat: Felling of the teak tree can be undertaken with a mandatory permission from the Deputy /Conservator of Forest. The owner of the tree has to pay a fee of about Rs. 2/- (please check the fee amount for the current year as it might change) for domestic purpose and the owner has to pay half of the sale value of the government if the felling is for sale.

Karnataka: The state government has restrictions on felling of trees on certain species and area-specific whether growing on private land or government land. Permits or permissions must be taken from the Divisional Forest Officer and check for more information from the regional forest department/office.

Madhya Pradesh: No tree can be felled in urban areas, while there are restrictions on felling of tree species throughout the state. With written permission of the Tehsildar by producing the landowner and a number of trees that will be felt along with purpose, the tree can be cut down.

Tamil Nadu: Teak tree comes under the royal tree category which cannot be felled even if standing on private land. However, with permission of the Chief Conservator of Forests tree can be felled.

Note: Trees that come under forest regions; prior written permissions for felling and transit permission must be obtained from the respective Divisional Forest Officers of the states. For fees and other information, please check the respective state, local forest officer before felling the tree.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Harvesting in Teak Wood Farming

For maximum returns on Teak Wood, harvesting of trees can be carried out on trees that are 15 plus years old. The tree will be mature enough to produce good quality heartwood that fetches a high price in the market. At the time of harvesting teak trees, teak trees should not be cut on only one side. Make notches on the front and back side which will prevent breaking or damage the high-value main trunk. Harvesting can be done in two methods. In small Teak Wood farming, especially in evenly aged teak, all the trees are harvested by felling. The other is selective harvesting method. In this method, teak trees are selected according to the need and market demand. This is carried out in unevenly aged trees or mixed plantations. Trees that are required or attained particular log dimensions are harvested.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Yield in Teak Wood Farming

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Grading of Teak Wood

Teak Wood Grades:

The tropical matured teak tree’s heartwood is extremely strong, durable, and with high lifespan. Teak wood is resistant to natural elements such as rain, temperature, UV light, and wood eating insects. The wood remains unaffected for its beauty and durability even if its left outdoors all year round. Teak heartwood quality is available in three grades depending on the outdoor performance and durability.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report  – Teak Girth Grade:

Teak Wood logs are graded based on the girth of logs. And the minimum length of each log shall be 250cm.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Teak Tree Growth Rate:

The teak tree growth rate cannot be taken as a standard measurement. The tree growth rate is affected by various environmental, soil, and moisture conditions. Teak trees grown in rich, deep soil, with adequate moisture and under best farming and intercultural operations may attain by 60 years more than 200 cm in girth. And under unfavorable conditions on an average may attain by 150 to 200 years the same girth size. On an average 400 teak trees stump analysis in different parts indicated the following girth and height growth.

Cost and Profits in Teak Wood Farming/Economics of Teak Wood Farming

Investment and Maintenance pattern on Teak Wood farming in a hectare land. Pricing is subjective to change depending on the region of cultivation. The figures in this project report are not accurate, but to give an understanding to young entrepreneurs on investment and the returns of the Teak Wood farming business project. Given below is the cost and returns of Teak Wood plantation farming. A Teak wood farm can harvest starting from 7 to 8 years onwards. About 2025 teak plants are planted at spacing 2 m x 2 m spacing.

1. Teak Wood Farming Project Report  – Establishing Cost for Teak Wood Farming:

1. Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Income on Teak Wood Farming:

Teak growth slows down from 15 years, the heartwood is immature and not that strong. The teak attains marketable heartwood from 20^th year onwards. Best growth has been observed under natural conditions such as alluvial soil (soils are deep and moist) and with tropical climatic conditions. Thinning must be undertaken as the trees maturing; the first thinning is done in 7 to 8^th year and second thinning in the 13 to 14^th year. At the time of pruning, the twigs and branches that are cut down can be sold as fuel wood.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Marketing of Teak Wood

Teak is one of the high priced timber and important commercial timber tree in India. Teak wood is most sought after timber which is used in many ways from domestic to commercial consumption. The irony of the Indian retail market is timber is sold in the name of teak while it’s not teak wood. Despite many private institutions are coming up in large numbers with teak wood farming, the demand remains evergreen.

Teak Wood Farming Project Report – Tips for Teak Wood Farming

• Environmental temperatures should be max (35° to 40°C) and min (12° to 16° C).
• Average rainfall can be between 550mm to 2250mm.
• Black cotton and clayey soils are not preferable.
• Saline water is not suitable.
• Planting done through root or stump teak planting will have to wait 25 to 30 years for harvest.
• Planting done through tissue culture teak saplings will assure income from 10 to 12 year onward.
• Excess irrigation to trees will soften heartwood fetch a less price.
• Soils with 6.5 to 7.5 pH value are ideal for Teak Wood farming.
• Soil content should have enough calcium; calcium helps in developing good quality Teak Wood.

References for Teak Saplings Procurement

BalakrishnaMuthukuri
Mother Agri Biotech Laboratories India Pvt. Ltd.
Bangalore.
Mob: +919035003471, +91 9908286565.

Balakrishna, M. Sc, (Ph.D.),
Managing Director,
Seven Hills Invitro Labs Pvt. Ltd.,
(Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory)
# 125, A.P. Sub Registrars Colony,
Timminaidupalem, Akkarampalli (P)
Tirupati 517507
Andhra Pradesh, India.
Mobile: +91 9908286565.

A Sivakumar
Chief consultant (Technical&Plantations)
Priya Nursery Garden.
Karaikudi – 630001
Mob: 09843080275.