Kohima: Nagaland is moving to grab a bigger share of the agarwood market. The Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Jorhat-based Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education-Rain Forest Research Institute on August 1. The deal was finalized at the Forest Office Complex in Dimapur by Principal Secretary Y Kikheto Sema and Director Dr Nitin Kulkarni.
The state aims to fix a massive supply gap. Assam controls 80 percent of the current market share, while Tripura holds 15 percent. Nagaland sits at a measly 2 percent. Sema stated: "Because we lacked a policy, people from Assam would come and take our Agarwood away."
This move follows the state cabinet’s May 6 approval of the Nagaland Agarwood Policy. The partnership covers soil testing, sapling distribution, and farmer training. It also introduces RFRI's artificial inoculation technology. This method boasts a success rate above 90 percent and stops private entities from charging farmers excessive fees. Farming agarwood could yield 40 to 50 times more revenue than traditional jhum cultivation.
The state is eyeing future processing plants recently approved by the federal government. Plans are also underway for a future agreement regarding clonal teak that matures in just 20 years. Kulkarni emphasized that the institute wants to help local communities near forests make more money. They plan to plant agarwood alongside other crops to diversify income. The deal extends beyond agarwood to other natural resources.
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