Bid to stymie govt effort to set up global agarwood trade centre in Golaghat alleged
GUWAHATI, Aug 24 - Jehirul Islam, inventor of the artificial inoculation of sanchi vekur (Agarwood fungus) in the agarwood trees and the brain behind the latest State Cabinet decision to accord commercial/industrial status to the agarwood industry, has alleged that some forces are working in a covert manner to give an impression to the Government that Hojai district and not Golaghat district is the epicentre of the State�s traditional agarwood-based industry.
In fact they are working to frustrate the State Government�s bid to establish the agarwood-based international trade centre in Golaghat district.
These forces are trying to rope in some leaders of the ruling party and some media persons too in their bid to mislead the State Government, said Islam.
He called upon the State Government to conduct an impartial survey to find out the exact picture concerning the availability of agarwood trees and the tradition of agarwood plantation prevailing in the State�s districts.
According to Islam, in Hojai district, hardly 3,000-4,000 non-infected agarwood trees may be found at present, whereas in Upper Assam there are around 50 lakh agarwood trees and of them, around 50 per cent trees are naturally infected. Of these trees, Golaghat with around 25 lakh trees, has the highest number of agarwood plantations. Of them, around 15 lakh are naturally infected and at any moment they can be harvested.
The rest 25 lakh trees are spread over in Jorhat, Sivasagar and Dibrugarh districts. Of them, Jorhat and Sivasagar together have around 15 lakh naturally infected trees, and at any given moment they could be harvested. Dibrugarh district has around three to four lakh Agarwood trees and these are yet to be infected, as natural infection is not possible there as the fungus zeuzera conferta is not available there.
Hojai district has no history of commercial agarwood plantation. But for the past about one decade, a business house has started a smallscale plantation of the tree species there.
In Upper Assam, agarwood trees are conventionally planted by a majority of the people. It is a part of their cultural and economic heritage for centuries. Presently, some of the tea estates and small tea growers have started their agarwood plantations too.
In Barak Valley, the indigenous people have the heritage of agarwood plantation. They take to agarwood plantation as per their individual capacity. In the hill districts of Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong also, the tradition is old, whereas in other districts of the state like Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Darrang, Sonitpur, Biswanath Chariali, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Sadiya and Tinsukia, among others, this tradition is somewhat new.
Many people in the Lower Assam and North Bank districts have started commercial plantation of agarwood trees about two decades back. They need inoculation of the sanchi vekur as the natural zeuzera conferta is not available in their areas.
Around one crore immature and mature agarwood trees are available in the districts of Lower Assam, North Bank, Middle Assam and Barak Valley, and also in the two hill districts of the State, informed Islam, who has surveyed the entire State and is helping the farmers in growing their agarwood plantations all over the North East region.
It may be mentioned here that there is a high demand of agar wood from Assam in the markets of South East Asia, Middle East and Japan, due to its matchless aroma.