Teak (sagwan) works in India on deep, well-drained, fertile soil in areas with a clear monsoon, and it is a 20 to 25 year timber investment, not a seasonal crop. Nothing worth selling comes before about year 8 to 12, you need a legal route to fell and move the timber, and the final price depends on log girth and straightness, which depend on planting material and management.

It suits farmers who own land they can leave under trees for two decades or more, can protect the plantation from fire, grazing and theft, and do not need yearly cash from that plot. Teak does not tolerate waterlogging or crowding, so a poorly drained field or a badly thinned block will under-perform.

Where it grows in India

  • Climate: a warm, moist tropical monsoon climate. KAU describes mean annual rainfall of 1,100 to 2,000 mm as the natural range; TNAU says 1,000 to 1,500 mm is adequate and plantations also exist below 750 mm.
  • Soil: TNAU lists sandy loam, pH 6 to 7 and not above 8.5, well drained. Heavy clay, shallow murrum and waterlogged soils give poor stems.
  • Natural and large planted teak: Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra hold the largest natural teak forests. Farm and private plantations are common in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
  • Dry regions: a Rajasthan semi-arid trial studied teak with different spacings and organic inputs, but growth under dry conditions is slower and needs irrigation in the early years; do not assume forest-belt yields there.

Planting material: seedling, stump or clone

MaterialWhat it isNote
StumpsOne-year nursery seedlings trimmed to a 4 to 6 cm shoot and 15 to 20 cm tap rootStandard forest-department method; planted in 15 cm wide, 30 cm deep holes (TNAU)
Polybag seedlingsNursery seedlings from seedSeed-grown stock is variable; teak seed has low fruit set and low germination, so quality depends on the seed source
Tissue-culture clonesPlants multiplied in the lab from selected treesOver 200 labs in India sell them; the lab protocol was set by ICAR-CRIDA in 2005. Ask for the source tree, the lab's track record and field plots you can visit. There is no national certification, so quality varies

Spacing and planting

  • Common spacings: 2 x 2 m (1,000 plants per hectare, about 405 per acre) with thinning, or 3 x 3 m (about 1,111 per hectare, 450 per acre), 3 x 4 m for wider lines. TNAU gives 1.8 x 1.8 m or 2 x 2 m as the usual starting spacing, thinned in stages. A Tanzanian spacing trial found 3 x 3 m gave the best share of good-quality stems, which is consistent with Indian farm practice but is foreign data.
  • Pits: 45 cm cube for seedlings, dug before the monsoon. Plant at the onset of rain.
  • Weeding: teak is very sensitive to weeds. Forest practice is weeding at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months (or until the canopy closes) and pruning of side branches at 12 and 24 months.
  • Intercrops: in the first 2 to 3 years short crops such as pulses can be grown between rows, which pays for weeding. Stop once the canopy closes.

Nutrition and irrigation

  • On fertile land forest manuals say no fertiliser is needed at planting. On poor soils, one forest-practice schedule applies 11 kg urea and 94 kg super phosphate (the source does not state the area basis, so confirm it with your KVK), split at planting, 6, 12 and 18 months.
  • Another published schedule gives 30 to 40 g N, 15 to 20 g P2O5 and 15 to 20 g K2O per plant per year from year 2 to year 5. For 450 plants per acre that is about 14 to 18 kg N per acre per year (35 to 45 kg per hectare for 1,111 plants).
  • Irrigation in the first 2 to 3 dry seasons greatly improves survival. Later, teak survives on rainfall in the 1,000 mm belt, but growth is better with occasional irrigation in the dry months. Treat these fertiliser rates as starting points and confirm with your local KVK after a soil test.

Thinning, pruning and rotation

  • KAU's Kerala schedule for a 50-year rotation from a 2 x 2 m start is thinning at 4, 8, 12, 18, 26 and 36 years. For short, high-input rotations of 25 to 30 years it is thinning at 4, 8, 12 and 16 years.
  • First thinnings produce small poles for fencing and scaffolding, worth little. Their main purpose is to give the final crop trees room.
  • Forest departments run teak on 50 to 80 year rotations, but farmers usually harvest at 20 to 25 years. Down To Earth quotes forestry researchers that no Indian forestry institution recommends 10 to 15 year cycles for sawn timber; wood from such young trees is mostly sapwood and sells at a much lower price.

Pests and diseases

  • Teak defoliator (Hyblaea puera): larvae eat the whole leaf except the midrib, starting with the first monsoon rains. TNAU lists hand removal of infested leaves, 5% neem seed kernel extract and light traps for moths. TFRI Jabalpur found about 21% loss of potential growth in unprotected 5 to 10 year plantations. Insecticide trials used 0.01% cypermethrin, 0.01% fenvalerate or 0.02% acephate; follow the label and ask your KVK or forest range office before spraying tall trees.
  • Teak skeletoniser (Eutectona machaeralis): larvae scrape leaf tissue, leaving a lace-like leaf. TNAU lists 5% NSKE and quinalphos at 2 ml per litre.
  • Diseases: leaf blight (Rhizoctonia solani) and fruit damage by Alternaria are listed by TNAU; they matter more in nurseries than in the field.
  • Mixed planting and keeping the block weed-free help hold pests down.

Harvest and yield

  • A Karnataka study of 24 to 25 year plantations measured mean annual increment of 5 to 10 m3 per hectare per year under intensive management. Usable wood per tree was 0.85 m3 for intensively managed plots, 0.54 m3 for line planting and 0.22 m3 for unmanaged stands.
  • Over 20 to 25 years, 5 to 10 m3 per hectare per year means roughly 100 to 250 m3 per hectare in total (40 to 100 m3 per acre) across all thinnings and the final harvest. Individual stands in Karnataka's best zone were reported far higher, but use the lower range for planning.
  • Yield depends heavily on site. Clonal stock, weeding, pruning and thinning together are what separate 0.22 m3 from 0.85 m3 per tree.

Cost and returns (illustration only)

No credible all-India figure exists for what a farm-grown, 20-year teak plantation actually earns, and published studies disagree widely. The arithmetic below shows the structure so you can put in your own local numbers; it is not a forecast.

  • Volume: 100 to 250 m3 per hectare (above), of which only the better straight logs fetch the top grade. Thinnings and crooked logs sell for much less.
  • Price range: Kerala Forest Department depot auctions in 2013 ranged from about ₹20,100 to ₹1,14,000 per m3 depending on girth class and quality. In April 2026 one export-grade log at Chaliyam, Kozhikode sold at ₹2.07 lakh per m3, a record that applies to a large, exceptional log and not to typical farm timber.
  • Example at the low end: 100 m3 x ₹20,000 = ₹20 lakh per hectare (₹8 lakh per acre) gross over about 20 to 25 years, before costs. Example at a better grade: 150 m3 x ₹40,000 = ₹60 lakh per hectare (₹24 lakh per acre) gross. These are gross sums spread over two decades, not annual income.
  • Costs to deduct: plants, pits, 3 to 4 years of weeding, irrigation, fencing, fire lines, thinning labour, felling, transport, permit fees and the land's alternative use. A Karnataka economic study found net present value at 8% discount of ₹9.38 lakh per hectare for intensively managed teak against ₹5.5 lakh for unmanaged, which shows how much discounting shrinks a far-off sale.
💡 Tip: Check recent auction or depot prices for your own state and grade before you plant. Compare the sum you expect at year 20 with a discounted figure, not with what the crop would give if sold today.

Market, permits and risks

  • Felling rules: green felling in government forests is barred under the Forest Conservation Act 1980. On private land the rules are state-specific, for example the Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act 1976, the Maharashtra Felling of Trees (Regulation) Act 1964 and Telangana's WALTA. Many states require a felling permit and transit pass even for planted teak. Speak to your range forest officer and, where the state allows it, register the plantation at the start.
  • Buyers: sawmills, timber merchants and furniture makers in Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat; forest depot auctions for forest timber.
  • Be wary of: "teak in 10 to 12 years" schemes and plantation-company offers promising fixed buy-back or guaranteed returns. Such pooled-plantation schemes have repeatedly collapsed. Verify land title, a registered contract and who actually owns the trees.
  • Other risks: fire, theft, drought in the early years, and sale price falling for undersized logs. For credit see Kisan Credit Card and check subsidy finder for state agroforestry schemes, since support differs by state and no uniform national rate has been verified.

Sources