Plantations
Regeneration has been obtained successfully by following methods.
Ø Dibbling of seeds into bushes
Ø Dibbling of seeds in pits or mounds
Ø Planting container raised seedlings in the nurseries
Dibbling of Seeds into Bushes
This methods is adopted in open scrub jungles with lot of bushes. Seeds are sown during monsoon. An instrument can be made using a bamboo pole of 4 to 6 cm internal diameter and a length of 1.5 m for the purpose of sowing seeds. The septa at the nodes are removed and one end of the pole is sharpened or a hollow metal piece is attached. The pole is introduced at the base of the bush and through the hole 4 to 5 seeds are transferred to the base of the bush. Fairly good success has been achieved by this method.
Dibbling of Seeds in Pits or Mounds
The usual trench mound technique adopted in forest for other species is also adopted for sandal. But here a perennial host plant is also grown along with sandal either on the mound or in the pit.
Planting Container Raised Seedlings in the Nurseries
Pits of 50 cm3 are dug out at an espacement of 4 m x 4 m. Healthy sandal seedlings; preferably above 30 cm in height are planted in the pits. Miscellaneous secondary forest species as host plants are planted in the same pit or they may be planted in separate pits in a quincunx pattern. This method has proved successful in many forest areas. At the time of planting in the field a perennial host, if given, increases the growth of sandal, otherwise it shows stunted growth with pale yellow leaves and ultimately dies in about one year. Sandal has over 150 host plants, some of the good hosts being Casuarina equisetifolia, Acacia nilotica, Pongamia pinnata, Melia dubia, Wrightia tinctoria and Cassia siamea.
Reference:
Ø http://www.frienvis.nic.in/WriteReadData/UserFiles/file/pdfs/Sandal.pdf viewed 12th August 2015.