Discussion on Alternative Investment

I also previousley thought about that... mainly beacuse i am working overseas... but as i heard you will not own the land.. There is another company called Sadaharitha Plantation also.. but main thing is not sure about this company future..same way..Touch wood also avail..but main good thing i feel is if you can start some thing along.. will be secure...

thanks for ur reply manula...

as i called them now on this number which is 01112478294...marketing manager mr,ranasinghe said to me that the land we buy is own by us...

so need enlighten u in there please receck calling this number..

thanks anyweay...

Thanks for the info... but make sure to confirm when writing the deeds and next question is to make sure that you are getting the same profit as they mention in any case.. main thing is company stabilty.. good luck...

I would advice you to purchase a land do the investment, if you are interested. But do not go behind Sadaharitha Plantation or Touchwood. As my understanding those are scams like pyramid schemes.

do not go for investment on future timber..

Please please don,t fall prey to this racket. This is similar to pyramid scams. All these mango, teak, sandalwood plantations, are real scams that rip you off. As monster suggested if you want buy a few acres of land.

Remind me of an old saying ; You can rely on your hands shade only. "Thama hisata thama athamaya sewanella"

illuminati wrote:Please please don,t fall prey to this racket. This is similar to pyramid scams. All these mango, teak, sandalwood plantations, are real scams that rip you off. As monster suggested if you want buy a few acres of land.

Yes I do agree with you.
Good straight forward advice.

Hi,

Interesting topic, I have a little land and I am thinking of cultivating some Teak wood. but i have no idea from where to buy teak plants and other guidance. Appreciated if anyone can share some information.

Regards,
bulletproof

Hi,

I do my own estate in Wanatawilluwa. According to my experience coconut plantation is a really good business.
What makes it really good is the capital appreciation of the estate, which is well above the annual profits from the sale of the coconuts.

Further, if you want to have an estate, do it by yourself. I don't advise green field. With green field, the ownership of the land is not an issue. You get the ownership of the land, but every thing else are doubtful.

The variety of the coconut plants by the green field can not be expected to have a long life, like other normal varieties. Normal varieties takes about 5 years approx to start harvesting, but this variety will be sooner. So customers will be attracted, but it will not last long.

This area is in dry zone. So during some part of the year this area gets no rain at all. In order to survive the coconut trees during this season and to maintain the crop & the size of the nuts, it is necessary to have husk pits in the estate. However, since the husk prices are now high many estate owners don't do this. Even the green filed doesn't. If you visit them during the dry season you will be able to see how those trees looks.

At the time of planting also, lot of husk should be placed inside the pit with the plant. But many people who are in the business of selling immature coconut plantations are not doing this. What they do is this. They buy a bare land, clean & prepare then just plant some nurseries. And they water the land for some time & sell quickly.

During dry season the water is very scared to find. So its not possible to water the plants during that time.

And the most difficult part is protecting the immature plants from insects between the age 2 - 6 years. The estates you buy from the green field will have plants which are in this age range. Due to an insect affection a tree can die with in few days. A tree which just starts to harvest at the age of 4 or 5 years would die from an infection if its not identified and treated soon.
So the whole effort would be lost. This is the risk.

Anyway if you can manage these risks smartly, you will really win. Estate values increase from 50% - 100% if you maintain them well.

illuminati wrote:Please please don,t fall prey to this racket. This is similar to pyramid scams. All these mango, teak, sandalwood plantations, are real scams that rip you off. As monster suggested if you want buy a few acres of land.

Thanks for the advcie.. main problem we are facing is as overseas worker we are stuck with these type of thing.. becasue no one to help in SL to buy a land and grow... we have little options... as you said i am also not happy about those companys..still thinking... after coming back to SL ..we have to have some plan..

econ wrote:do not go for investment on future timber..

What do you mean by this?
What do you know about timber business & plantation????

B/ proof,

Its a good investment. Teak will take about 20 years to harvest. Which is the shortest when compared with others like mahogany. But still teak gets the highest value than others.
Annually we import lot of teak from Mynmar & Malysia. One reason to import them is their quality. In Sri lanka such quality teak can be obtained only in North & North west regions. So do not plant in other regions of the country.

You can get the plants from the forest dept. But you how govt depts in SL functions, right?
Try and see, if not just lets me know. There are private vendors, but i don't have their contact numbers, right now.

Dear Sudee, your contribution is much appreciated. You seem to know a lot. Thanks a lot.

Those who really need to let others manage their land and cultivation on behalf of themselves, make sure that you get a proper deed under your name (not just some agreement) - get the services of a competent lawyer who really would look after your interests, at least to make sure you have the land at the end.

My brother has planted around 3000 teak trees in North Central province 12 years ago. Around 5% trees died due to the drought and other natural disasters. His investment for the plantation is almost nothing. He should be able to harvest in next 6 - 8 years. He may be able to sell a tree around Rs 12,000/- ( I may be wrong). Even if he sell a tree at Rs 5000/- he would get a good return. This is a long term investment but you will get a good return for your investment.

Sudee wrote:



You can get the plants from the forest dept. But you how govt depts in SL functions, right?
Try and see, if not just lets me know. There are private vendors, but i don't have their contact numbers, right now.

You can buy tissue cultured plants from CIC Agri Businesses nurseries , Just Rs. 15 per plant. so initial cost is negligible if you have a bare land.

Monster wrote:My brother has planted around 3000 teak trees in North Central province 12 years ago. Around 5% trees died due to the drought and other natural disasters. His investment for the plantation is almost nothing. He should be able to harvest in next 6 - 8 years. He may be able to sell a tree around Rs 12,000/- ( I may be wrong). Even if he sell a tree at Rs 5000/- he would get a good return. This is a long term investment but you will get a good return for your investment.

@ Monster if you can find a good buyer you can sell them at many times higher than the above value. One of my friend sold an average size tree at 35 000/-

WildBear wrote:

Sudee wrote:



You can get the plants from the forest dept. But you how govt depts in SL functions, right?
Try and see, if not just lets me know. There are private vendors, but i don't have their contact numbers, right now.

You can buy tissue cultured plants from CIC Agri Businesses nurseries , Just Rs. 15 per plant. so initial cost is negligible if you have a bare land.

If I am not mistaken, you can get up to 1000 plants free of charge from Forest department.

As CSE many compnies having core business ...better from our side also having different type of saving... except of share marekt .. you can save some other way like FD,plantation etc...

I am also thinking about the teak plantation and like to find a good land around 1 to 2 acre.....any idea...

B/proof,

I had a massage from you, but i cant reply you through a private massage since i haven't made the required number of posts to the forum to qualify for that.
What you can do is, send a massage to this e-mail sudee32000@yahoo.com

Monster,

35,000 is a reasonable rate. How ever the rate depend on the size and the maturity. Size & maturity are two independent factors. Some believe that when the trees are big in size they are matured, that wrong.
Maturity & size mainly depend on the soil, variety and whether.
My father was a timber trader. He has bought teak trees for even more than 100,000 in the past. But such trees are no more.
People cut them even before they are matured.

What is important is the maturity. Average size tree which has matured worth more than a big size tree which has not matured.

I think it is good to mention this as well which has a Environmental effect:
Cutting trees is not good for environment, but with the increase in population it has to be done. Hence what we should do is, we must try to get the maximum use from a tree when it is cut. Furniture made out of timber obtained from Immature trees are of low quality and will not last long. Its just like, "gahatath naha, badatath naha".

Most of the crazy vendors in Moratuwa is one such party who encourage this bad practice of cutting young trees. However, people are also eager to get money soon, backed by thousands of needs they have.

Be mindful if you buy furniture from Moratuwa. However, this also should be said. Even though they are not high quality, still they can be bought at half of the prices that you find in big stores.

illuminati wrote:Please please don,t fall prey to this racket. This is similar to pyramid scams. All these mango, teak, sandalwood plantations, are real scams that rip you off. As monster suggested if you want buy a few acres of land.

100 % agree. We should not waste our hard earned money for nothing.

A very usefull discussion.

Sudee, appreciate ur knowledge sharing effect.

Hope this link would also help for ur decisions.

http://forum.srilankaequity.com/t15824-sadaharitha-plantation?highlight=sadaharitha+plantation

illuminati wrote:Please please don,t fall prey to this racket. This is similar to pyramid scams. All these mango, teak, sandalwood plantations, are real scams that rip you off. As monster suggested if you want buy a few acres of land.

I don't know about the mango & sandalwood. But i'm aware of green field, coconut & teak plantation.
Tell me, how this is similar to a "PYRAMID SCAMS" ???????????????

(in fact i would have posted this first)

I don't accept the methodology followed by green field. That's it. Coz following that method, i'm doubtful whether the owners can have a SUSTAINABLE COCONUT PLANTATION.

Its simply due to this.
1. I don't accept the variety they plant.
2. I don't accept the water preservation method they use.
3. I don't agree on the time at which they hand over the land to owner.

Teak plantation - I should tell you that this is the investment you can make in a plantation with lowest investment, but very long term. At least 20 years. Though the life time is high, i would still consider this as a low risk investment.
What you can do is, buy yourself a bare land and clean it.(use machines as far as possible. Minimize the labour) Then during the rainy season plant the nurseries.
By the time rain is over they are well rooted.
Just let them grow by them selves. Once the dry season comes some plants will die. That's normal. If possible replant them.
Simply because of this very distinctive two seasons only we can get good quality teak. If it were to have the same whether through out the year, we can't have good teak.

Bi annually or at least annually cut the extra branches and clean the weeds.
(Get one or two people to cut the branches and hire a tractor with rotary disk to clean the weeds)
Don't cut all the branches like some does expecting trees to grow taller. Without sufficient leaves the tree cannot absorb the required sun rays and produce the required food. Ultimately what happens is the tree will not be matured on time.

This is all about teak investment.