Management and Economic Aspects of Growing Aquilaria agallocha Roxb. in Bangladesh

Abstract

The agar tree (Aquilaria agallocha Roxb.) is an evergreen tropical tree species containing precious dark resinous heartwood (agarwood). The population of agar tree is rapidly declining in natural forests in Bangladesh, and the species is now being planted in government-owned degraded forest sites as well as privatelyowned homestead forests. A survey was conducted of 120 agar farmers and 20 agarbased enterprises in the Moulvibazar district of Bangladesh, to investigate the management system of agar plantations and agar-based oil enterprises and the financial viability of both sectors. It was found that the traditional management practices were adapted based mostly on indigenous knowledge and technology to manage agar plantations and agar-based oil enterprises. Discounted cash flow analysis indicated that both agar plantations and agar-based oil enterprises are financially viable. The net present value of 1 ha of agar plantation (rotation period 12 years) was estimated to be Tk. 4.9 million and the net annual return from agarbased enterprises was estimated to be Tk. 0.8 million (Tk. 78 = 1 US dollar). Despite some threats to agar farming posed by the traditional wounding techniques of agar trees and the involvement of intermediaries in the marketing channel of agar trees and agar-based products, this economic sector has potential to play a vital role in rural peoples' livelihood subsistence and forestry sector development in Bangladesh.

The Processing of Non-Timber Forest Products through Small and Medium Enterprises—A Review of Enabling and Constraining Factors

“…Capital requirement for business establishment predominantly stems from own resources [169]. This may make it difficult to invest in e.g., further value addition activities and machinery and thus limit growth and performance of these enterprises, as shown for example for shea [88], argan [160], or agar oil [152]. This can potentially be exacerbated by lack of needed inputs for processing activities, such as fuel wood or electricity.…”

“…Furthermore, shorter chains may also ease implementation and control of standards [104]. The critical role of intermediaries, appropriating benefits and contributing to poor marketing margins for producers has often been demonstrated [143,145,152]. However, with limited market information available, poor infrastructure and financial constraints, middlemen may sometimes be the only pathway for producers to access markets at all.…”

“…Overexploitation of the resource and destructive or unsustainable harvesting practices can occur at all levels of commercialization, although the latter was more present in the lower commercialized categories (low: 20%, med-A: 36%, med-B: 10%, and high: 11% of studies, respectively). Lack of resources in the wild gives a strong incentive for cultivation and sustainable management practices, particularly in cases of strong demand for the product in question, as seen in a number of cases for more highly commercialized NTFPs, such as charcoal production [138][139][140], juçara berries [99], agar oil production [152,154], chamaedorea palms [130], bamboo products [125], and jernang production [149].…”

History of Use and Trade of Agarwood

“…The demand for and trade in agarwood continues today, and with increasing wealth in consumer countries over recent decades, demand exceeds supply (Barden et al 2000;Chakrabarty et al 1994;Compton and Ishihara 2006). This has resulted in increased prices (Wyn and Anak 2010), natural resource decline (Zhang et al 2008), reduction in product quality (Antonopoulou et al 2010), increasing interest in cultivation (Hoang Ha and Nghi 2011;Page and Awarau 2012;Persoon 2008;Rahman et al 2015), and developing methods for resin induction (Liu et al 2013;Mohamed et al 2014;Persoon 2008). We endeavor to put a historical context to the current interest in agarwood by reviewing its use and trade and examining the reasons for its high esteem and economic value.…”

Economic Value of Agarwood and Its Prospects of Cultivation

“…Farmers recommend nailing when trees reached 6 to 7 years of age. After 3 to 5 years of nailing, the trees became ready for harvesting and the best time for harvesting is mid-October to mid-March (Chowdhury et al 2017 andRahman et al 2015).…”