DILI, 11 janaury 2021 (TATOLI) – The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) had planted more than 300 hectares of sandalwood in five municipalities – Bobonaro, Covalima, Ainaro, Liquica, and Manatuto Municipality.
“MoAF had planted more than 300 hectares of land with sandalwood plants across several municipalities since 2005,” the Director-General for Forests, Coffee and Industrial Plants of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery (MoAF), Raimundo Mau told TATOLI, in Dili, on monday.
Mau informed that MoAF through the National Directorate of the Forests, Coffee and Industrial Plants had been planted more than 200 hectares of land with sandalwood in the area of Mandoki, in the administrative post of Atabae in Bobonaro municipality: “This pilot project began on january 13, 2017, and was concluded in 2021.”
He said MoAF also carried the same program with planting 20 hectares of land with sandalwood in the Jumalai, Tilomar, and Covalima of Covalima municipality: “These sandalwoods are growing well now.”
In addition, the communities also have their sandalwood plantation. Some community members have more than a hectare of sandalwood plantation, Mau said.
“Based on our distribution data indicates that many community members had been planting the sandalwood in Ainaro, Liquica, and Manatuto municipality.
He said MoAF had prepared more than 300.000 sandalwood trees in Maubara Nursery in Liquica municipality, saying more sandalwood trees had been also prepared in the Ratahu Nursery in Viqueque, and other nurseries in Lautem and Manufahi municipality.
Mau stressed that the sandalwood plantation required special care to protect the plant from the attack of pests and diseases.
Mau called on communities who had been planted the sandalwood to look after their plants as the cultivation profit to a farmer is tremendous.
He said therefore MoAF had been committed to growing more sandalwood to be distributed to those communities who are interested to plant the industrial plant.
“It is estimated that if we keep planting the sandalwood, we will likely harvest 10.000 hectares of sandalwood in the coming decade,” he added.
The average price of sandalwood ranges from US$80 per kg to US$100 per kg.
The species of sandalwood native to Timor-Leste, Santalum album, is listed as a vulnerable species and is on the International Union of the Conversation of Nature (IUCN)’s global species red list, said AI-Com.
Journalist: Filomemno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
