There are sixteen recognized species of sandalwood spread over in the world; broadly they can be grouped as East Indian sandalwood, Australian sandalwood, Hawaiian sandalwood and sandalwood of the Pacific Islands. Many of these are under the threat of extinction due to over exploitation. Some countries are taking steps towards commercial cultivation using modern techniques to save these species. East Indian sandalwood, Santalum album L., is the queen among sandalwood species, yielding superior quality essential oil very much required by perfumery and related industries. Over the past decades, India was producing the largest quantity of sandalwood oil, meeting over 80 percent of world demand. However, due to over exploitation and various other reasons, the quantity of production has declined drastically during recent years. Many sandalwood based industries have sprung up recently in India as well as abroad due to a worldwide shift in customer preference towards natural products and a demand for legal, ethical sustainable supplies of Natural Sandalwood and essential oil. Sandalwood oil is used for perfumes, fragrances, flavours, cosmetics, panparag and gutka, among other applications. Many countries, such as Australia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Costa Rica, etc., are involved in the commercial cultivation of East Indian sandalwood to meet global demand. In the meanwhile, India remains competitive in its attempt to grow more sandalwood both insitu & ex-situ by inter plantation methods to bring back its lost glory as a emerging economy in the world with vast human resources potential. It is hoped that this initiative will meet both domestic and international market demands. Furthermore, this will increase green cover, reduce global warming, economic empowerment of the grower, alleviate poverty, generate massive rural employment and conserve the ecology and bio-diversity of the country.
1. INTRODUCTION Sandalwood is the fragrant heartwood coming from the species of genus Santalum, of family Santalaceae. The most notable members of this group are Santalum album (Indian Sandalwood) & Santalum spicatum (Australian Sandalwood). Sandalwood has been valued for centuries for its fragrance, wood working potential and various purported medicinal qualities. In India the genus is represented by Santalum album and the wood is commercially known as East Indian Sandalwood and the essential oil from it is East Indian Sandalwood oil. East Indian Sandalwood & Sandalwood Oil are amongst the oldest perfumery materials used. Role of KSTDC SANDALWOOD SHOP on sustainable production of Sandalwood KSTDC a with a nearly 100 year legacy in the production of natural sandalwood oil and sandalwood oil based products working towards promoting the sustainable development of sandalwood for meeting the needs of society, present and future. Accordingly, the company integrated the practice of Sandalwood Tree based farming by joint cultivation on a Share & Prosper basis for reaping the rich benefits, both individually and for the community, by making efforts in converting unproductive waste lands into productive lands. In this endeavor the company is trying to interconnect the needs of the nature, traditional culture of the brand of Mysore Sandal product and contemporary science.