36 year old farmer from Dolatpura village is practicing sandalwood cultivation through cow-based natural farming

• Grows white and red sandalwood trees within his 12 bighas of farmland
• Anticipates a substantial sale in 2028

Umang Patel, a 36-year-old farmer from Dolatpura village, along with his brother, Dipen Patel, is practicing sandalwood cultivation through cow-based natural farming. He grows white and red sandalwood trees within his 12 bighas of farmland and anticipates substantial sales in 2028. He invested approximately 10 lakhs until 2020 and expects sales in crores once the trees are fully mature. He asserts that natural farming imparts beautiful color and fragrance to the trees and facilitates their growth to their full potential.

Umang completed his diploma in Civil Engineering and even worked in the construction field for four years. But later, he decided to follow his roots and turned towards natural farming. First, he grew some vegetables and later decided to grow Sandalwood on his farm due to its high returns. It all started with
Chandubhai Patel (a tree lover), who is now 65 years old and practicing cow-based farming of Amla and wood apple trees on his 12 bighas of land.

His elder son, Dipen Chandubhai Patel, who holds an M.E. in civil engineering and is an Assistant Professor, started practicing sandalwood cultivation between Amla and Wood Apple trees. Every Sunday, he takes care of and collects data from his sandalwood farm and also provides training to Umang Patel and other young farmers in the area.

“We started farming in 2015 and planned to grow sandalwood trees on our 12 bighas of land at Daulatpura village in Savli. I have cultivated nearly 1400 trees, and all are now slowly maturing into fully grown trees. It’s a long wait, as only fully grown trees are saleable. I have cultivated white and red varieties of sandalwood and expect to sell them sometime in 2028 onwards. Every day, I visit the farms and am happy to see their growth, which is possible due to cow-based natural farming,” said Umang.

It is worth mentioning that Dipen Patel is the Secretary of Chandan Vikas Association, Vadodara, and his father, Chandubhai Patel, is the Director of Geospoon Farmers Producer Company Ltd. at Dolatpura. He also initiated the “Kishan Pension Scheme” in 2024 with a sandalwood buyback agreement. In this pension scheme, farmers contribute 2000/- per year for 13 years and receive a return of 500000 Lac Rs per year after 15 years. This scheme is exclusively for farmers.