‘Eucalyptus farming more profitable than growing traditional crops’
RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: A training session on eucalyptus farming was conducted here on Saturday. On the occasion, K Samson, divisional managers (retd) of AP Forest Development Corporation, said cultivation of these trees was more profitable than that of traditional crops.
“After State bifurcation, eucalyptus trees are grown in 43,000 hectares as compared to 85,000 hectares earlier. After 1994, they are being grown through the cloning method rather than by seeds. With the new technique, life span of these trees has significantly increased,” he said. “In the 17th century, Tipu Sultan, ruler of the Mysore Kingdon, planted eucalyptus in the Nandi Hills area (near Bengaluru). Later, Britishers then adapted it and planted the trees in Neelagiri Hills,” he added. JSN Murthy, Director of the AP Forest Academy, said the training classes to FSOs aimed at explaining the benefits of farming eucalyptus.
He said FSOs should be careful in maintaining the harvesting data, preparation of records and survival rate, otherwise the duty officers will face problems at the time of extraction of trees.