INSTITUTE OF WOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (IWST)

ORGANISATION

Initially established in 1938 as a Forest Research Laboratory by the erstwhile state of Maysore and later in 1956 taken over by the Govt. of India and made a Regional Research Centre of the FRI and Colleges, Dehra Dun, the IWST was declared, in April 1988, an independent Institute under the ICFRE. Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore, caters to the research needs of the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Daman and Diu. The Institute maintains three field stations for forestry research in karnataka state, and two outstation marine centres at Vishakapatnam and Cochin (Kichi).

RESEARCH

Amongst the main achievements of the Institute are, research on anatomy of 40 lesser known Andaman timbers; their properties, uses and the publication thereon; information on properties of 15 timbers of Malaysian species and one i.e. Petrocarpus angolensis from Africa; Studies on enzymatic hydrolysis of saw dust bark and wood shavings for production of higher value goods, i.e., animal feed, soil conditioners and as a source of carbohydrates; Studies on Eucalyptus bark for manufacture of oxalic acid; investigations on biocidal activities of some plant extractives. The Institute has developed facilities and expertise in identifications of woods and provides service in this field. Its user organisations include public sector enterprises,defence establishments, police,forest departments and industries. The technique developed in the Institute for Albizia chinensis timber preservation, helped fishermen prolong the life of their catamarans from 5 to 22 years. This Institute has been recognised as the nodal agency for information on teak under the FAO/UNDP networking. Two scientists of the Institute were awarded the Ron Cockvagh award during the year 1992-93 by International Research group on Wood Preservation, Sweden.

PERSPECTIVES IN RESEARCH

• Production of improved planting stock

• Provenance trials of Sandal and teak.

• Socio-economic survey of ten identified farming villages in A.P and Karnataka.

• Transfer of improved agroforestry techniques to identified ten villages in A.P and Karnataka.

• Establishment/location of seed production areas/identification and marking of plus trees in A.P. and Karnataka.

• Processing/utilisation of lesser known timber of plantation species.

• Development of indigenous substitutes for imported raw material in perfumery industries.

• Utilization of alternate timbers for catamarans, the traditional craft of poor coastal fishermen of A.P.

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