Teak tree farming profit per acre | teak wood plantation project report India

This is another tree which sells at very high price like mahogany and sandalwood tree. In our upcoming post we will present agarwood project report and will also share some more details on teak wood farming like permission, subsidy etc. So stay tuned for more upcoming details. 

Tree information 

Tree height - Teak is a large tree and average height of teak tree is up to 40 m or 131 ft. It has grey and brown colour branches which are valued for high quality wood.

• Leaves - teak tree leaves are 15-45 cm long and 8-23 cm wide. This tree have large papery leaves that are hairy on the lower surface and teakwood smells like leather.
• Flowers - The tree has a dense cluster of small white flowers at the end of the branches. Its flowers are less in fragrance but contain reproductive organs. Flowers are 25 to 40 cm long and 30 cm wide teak flowers usually bloom from June to August. 
• Fruits - Its fruits are spherical in shape and have a diameter of 1.2 to 1.8 cm. Tectona grandis or teak tree sets fruit from September to December.
• Teak wood - We can divide teak wood in 2 sections one is heartwood and other is sapwood.
• Heartwood - Its colour is yellow and gets darker with time. Sometimes, you can also find dark patches on it. It releases a leather like smell while cutting for the first time.
• Sapwood - It looks whitish to pale yellowish brown in colour.
• Wood density - Teak wood density varies according to the moisture content. Teak wood 15 % moisture content is equals to 660 kg/m3.

Teak wood farming

Teak or Tectona grandis is a hardwood species that belongs to the Lamiaceae family. Teak tree is commonly known as Sagwan tree in India. It is mostly found in tropical regions. It is native to South and South East Asian countries like India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. 

Teak is one of the most expensive timber and it has been used as a boat building material since 2000 long years and has great value in India. Its wood has great water resistance properties and it is also appreciated for its durability. Due to its uses and properties it has great demand over the international market, some of the teak wood tree uses are boat building, exterior house construction, veneer furniture, engraving, turnings etc. 

Due to weather tolerance quality it is cultivated all over the world, it is traditionally cultivated in Africa and Caribbean countries. It is said that the genetic origin of teak belongs to two centers one is India and the other is shared between Myanmar and Laos. However, Myanmar teak forest accounts for half of the world's naturally growing tree.

Mr Chathu Menon from Kerala is known as father of Indian teak plantation. He is the person who has started teak tree cultivation in Kerala and planted million of trees. The scientific name of teak wood is Tectonagrandis.

Species - Tectonagrandis, Tectonagrandia, Tectonaphillipinesis, Tectonahamiltoniana. 

Common names  

There are some other name for teak wood. Another name for teak wood are given below

• Brazilian teak.
• African teak.
• Moulmein.
• Kuyn.
• Rangoon teak. 
• Rosawa.
• Maisak.
• Tekka.
• Sanwan wood.
• Saka.
• Burma teak.
• Burman red teak.

Name in Indian languages

• Punjabi - Tika. 
• Marathi - Sagwande.
• Bengali - Segunkatha.
• Malayalam -Tekk.
• Telugu -  Teku.
• Kannada - Tek.
• Tamil - Tekku.
• Hindi - Teak.

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Varieties in India

Price of the teak wood depends on the colour and grain of the heartwood.

West African teak - African teak wood is a bit podgy in comparison of Asian teak wood. Heartwood of west African teak has black lines and wavy grains. 

Konni Teak - This variety belongs to Kerala state and they are mostly grown in hilly regions of konni. This wood is dark in colour and grows a bit slower, however the wood is stronger than nilambur Teak.

Godavari teak - This is from east and west godavari regions in Andhra Pradesh state. Here it is divided in two forms wet and dry. Wet region wood is insipid in color whereas wood from dry region is dark golden brown in color. This wood has a good market price but wet region teak wood may suffer from rot fungi.

Central province teak wood - This teak is found in drier regions, and teaks that are found in dry regions have close grain with deep and dark color. This wood is mainly found in the central regions of India and also known as CPT. However, this tree has slow growth but it sells at a higher price.

Myanmar teak - This is also known as Burma teak and it has slow growth. The heartwood of this variety looks dark in color and has close grain. This variety is a natural growing teak and has the highest teak price in the world. One can get good returns while investing in Myanmar wood. However this and most teak trees take around 25 years to mature.

Read this - Teak wood farming profit per acre in USA

South and central American teak - This variety has light color and it produces less heartwood.

Paratwada teak - Paratwada is a place in Amravati Maharashtra and it is famous for supplying this wood on a large scale to the entire world. There are lots of biggest suppliers in Paratwada region. 

Adilabad teak - This teak is majorly found in Andhra Pradesh state. Its heartwood has a rose color and sells at a good price. 

Nilambur or Malabar teak

Teakwood farming in India for beginners

Climate required

These trees are capable of growing in dry and moisture regions. However, trees grown in tropical regions produce good quality wood. Trees that grow in proper sunlight produce high quality wood therefore it is necessary to plant them under warm and moist climate conditions. 

Temperature required

These trees can easily tolerate high temperatures between 38° C to 45° C and low temperatures between 12° C to 16° C. 

Irrigation

Minimum 800 to 2500 mm rainfall is required for good growth of the plantation. 

Drip irrigation is recommended for teakwood farming. It is useful for saving water as well as it is beneficial for producing high yield crops. 

• Summer - Irrigation is required on a regular basis in the summer season. But over irrigation can cause the rot problem in heartwood and sapwood so avoid excess irrigation. 
• Rainy season - Avoid any irrigation during the rainy season.
• Winter season - Controlled irrigation is required during the winter season.
• Annual rainfall - 1250 to 3500 mm per year rainfall is required. Over 3500 mm rainfall is good enough for these trees at the same time they need near 3-4 dry months in a year. 

Soil requirements 

• Avoid black cotton, clay soils, sandy soil, rocky soil. 
• Well drained alluvial soils, loam soil are best soil for teak cultivation.
• Avoid water logging land for teak plantation.
• High calcium, potassium, phosphorous and organic matter content soil is preferable. 

Soil ph level for sagwan plantation 

pH 6.5 to 7.5.  

Best planting season

Before monsoon probably after first shower. 

Land preparation

Couple of ploughing is necessary before the planting process. Ploughing is useful for bringing the soil to a fine tilth. After ploughing weed removal need to be done along with picking process of tiny stones for better ground preparation. Water stagnation should be prohibited in teak wood farms.

The best fertilizer for every soil is cow dung manure but remember it should be well rotten. Add cow dung manure to the soil during your last plow then dig the pits of 45 x 45 x 45 cm. Now add soil mix and farmyard manure you can also use herbicide and insecticides in each pit.

Suggestions - Cultivation which takes more than two years does not demand heavy chemicals or pesticides because you have good enough time to prepare organic pesticides and fertilizers for your cultivation. It is recommended to go with organic fertilizer during such a kind of cultivation that takes more than 2 years and in teakwood farming you have more than 20 years so you can practice organic cultivation in a good manner. It will produce much more effective and good results than chemical cultivation. Organic farming is well known for long run.

Propagation method

• Seed propagation, vegetative propagation and tissue culture.

Seed propagation

In this method seeds are treated and then used for sowing in the nursery beds. After the germination process farmers used to wait till they grew up.

Vegetative propagation

• Two to three weeks old shoots are selected.
• 3 week old shoots are 5 to 7 cm long and they have tiny hairs along with bright green leaves.
• Drip the base of the shoots for 5 to 10 minutes in IBA then plant them in the nursery until they develop roots.

Tissue culture propagation

In this method shoots are produced in the lab and then transferred to the greenhouse for root development. Once roots are developed then they are transplanted to the main field. This method is also known as clone propagation. Tissues and organs of the plants are used in labs to prepare shoots. Tissue culture method is costly but a fast growing method.

Teak wood plantation spacing

• Planting teak plants with more spacing can produce larger diameters which will have more price in the market.
• Planting teak seedlings closer will help teak stems to grow straighter and faster. It will also grow taller and if they grow taller then you might get more heartwood which results in more price.
• Sagwan tree spacing should be 2 m x 2 m, 2.5 m x 2.5 m or 3 m x 3 m. 
• Spacing during intercropping - 4 m x 4 m, 5 m x 1 m. 
• Teak wood spacing for 500 plants - 2 m x 2 m.
• Spacing for 400 plants - 3 m x 3 m.

Teak trees per acre

You can easily plant 500 trees in one acre land with the above given spacing. 

Read it - How many teak trees per acre and farm income

Tips

Dense spacing in the early years is recommended for straighter and faster height. Teak wood plantation needs to be done before monsoon season to get better thrive and early growth. Good spacing helps in maintenance of the farm.

Fertilizer requirement's

• Two doses of fertilizer NPK 50 gram per plant in the ratio of 15 : 15 : 15.
• This fertilizer need to provide every year but start providing this ration after 3 years from the plantation.  

Intercropping 

You should do mix cropping in any cultivation which takes more than three years so that you can earn regular money for your survival. You can use that money in the maintenance of your farm as well. During intercropping in teak wood you should avoid sugar cane, white rice, jute, and creeping vegetables such as pumpkin and cucumber. 

• Paddy, chili, maize, wheat and sesame etc.

Apart from mixed cropping it is suggested to do multi layer farming as well like this you can grow 3 crops in the same field hence teak wood needs more than 20 years to grow. During this long period you can earn some money from mixed cropping along with multi layer cropping.

Pests and disease

Insects 

• Tree termite, stem borer, wet wood borer, caterpillars, pupae pests and wilt.

Thinning in teak plantation  

The first thinning is conducted in teak plantation at 5 to 10 years after planting of teak depending on site quality and the size of initial spacing. Generally, under good site and close spacing 1.8 x 1.8 m and 2 x 2 m the first and second thinning mechanical thinning's are conducted at 5 and 10 years respectively.

Harvesting 

However, teak trees take nearly 25-30 years to grow fully mature but their harvesting can be done after 15 years as well. Because 15 years are good enough to develop a good heartwood that can produce good money while selling in the teak wood market. 

Harvesting process - When it comes to harvesting of teak plants there is certain things to follow for approval of teak harvesting. 

• Mark the trees to be cut. 
• Add serial number of the trees. 
• Submit the report to the chief of the regional forestry office. 
• Send the report to the local forestry department with an explanation of thinning operation needs to be done. 
• Thinning and harvesting operation starts after the permission granted.  

Teak wood yield per acre in India

The teak tree yield around 10 - 15 cubic feet teak wood in about 14 years. The main stem grows to the height of 25-30 feet and attains the girth of 35 - 45 inches. 

Teak wood grades 

Grade A - Highest quality timber heartwood from fully matured trees. It has identifications such as: feels oily while touching, close grains, golden grown. It makes one quarter of the mature log. 

Grade B - It is a bit lower quality in comparison to grade A timber. It can be identified through these - lighter in color, uneven grain, less shine. It makes fourth to one third of the log.

Grade C - Low quality teak wood taken from the logs of immature trees. It has uneven color, not having any traces like natural teak oil, and may damage. 

Teak tree girth 

Grade 1    log girth above 200 cm.

Grade 2    log girth above 150-200 cm.

Grade 3    log girth above 100-150 cm.

Sagwan Contract farming

There are various companies that are doing teak wood plant contract farming. They are selling 1.5 years old teak plants at the price of Rs 250 to 280 (in bulk). 

• Contact number - 9914549494
• Address - Big Em Estates and Infra ltd, Victoria Estate, Defense Road, Pathankot, India

Note - It is requested to perform a detailed enquiry before starting any contract with the company. Also ask whether they have buy back policy or not. It is recommended to make a proper agreement on bond paper before taking the services of the company. 

FAQ

Which is the world's largest teak tree?

Homemalynn 1 is the world’s largest teak tree. It is 27.5 ft in girth and 110 ft tall. Homemalynn 2 is the world’s second biggest tree and it is 27 feet in girth. Earlier kannimara was the world's biggest teak tree. Kannimar is located in Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary, kerala, India. It is 47.5 meters tall. 

Where is the world’s largest teak tree? 

There are two biggest teak trees in the world and both trees are in Homalin township, Myanmar. The Ministry of Environment conservation and forestry found these trees in homalin town and named them homemalynn 1 and homemalynn 2. 

Where is the international teak information network office located?

The international teak information network (technet) regional office for Asia Pacific, Bangkok is currently located at Kerala forest research institute, Peechi, Thrissur, Kerala India.

What does teakwood smell like?

Teak wood has a leather like smell when it is freshly brewed. 

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