Experience in Agarwood Production in Malaysia

A view of the gaharu plantation

AT a gaharu (agarwood) plantation owned by Gaharu Technologies Sdn Bhd in Gopeng, Perak, tourists come by the hundreds in chartered buses every day.

The 120 ha Gaharu Tea Valley Gopeng is the latest tourist attraction in Perak, and on hand to welcome the tourists personally most of the time is its owner David Ho Kwan Meng, who also owns Gaharu Technologies Sdn Bhd.

As he enjoys the good business brought by the visitors who pay RM10 each to tour his plantation besides buying the various gaharu products he produces and sells, Ho is grateful to two particular persons who had made it all possible - his Standard Four teacher, Pang Tau Siew and the generous Japanese man who gave him 200 special hybrid gaharu seedlings to plant.

Pang, who came from China, inspired young Ho to appreciate gaharu trees by telling him exotic stories about the agarwood and its value to the Chinese emperors.

The Japanese man gave Ho the special hybrid agarwood which became the mother trees for his plantation.

“I met the old man in 1992 while doing heavy machinery business.My supplier from Japan recommended me to him.

He was already 88 years old then.He came by taxi and brought the seedlings with him,” said Ho who also owns SSL Heavy Machinery Sdn Bhd.

Ho was overwhelmed when he saw the gaharu seedlings.

Immediately, he thought of his old Standard Four teacher, Mr Pang at SJK Jelapang in Kampung Jelapang, Ipoh and his stories about the Chinese emperors and agarwood.

“ I can still remember Mr Pang’s car plate number.I was a very quiet boy who listened when he talked.He was always telling us the history of China because he came from China,” said Ho.

Throughout the interview with New Sarawak Tribune, Ho did not name the Japanese man.But he said the man’s ancestors worked for the Chinese emperors long ago and that they lived in Akita, a prefecture in northern Japan after migrating from China.

Ho said in 1992, the Japanese man had at first approached public companies in Malaysia with his 200 trees.

However, although the CEOs of the companies liked the idea of planting gaharu trees for economic returns, their ideas were not accepted by their board members, accountants or auditors.

Public companies were keen on making fast money.They could not wait 15 years for the trees, he pointed out.

Ho said he met the Japanese man many times before the latter gave him the gaharu plants with three conditions.

“First, I can only plant the seeds after 15 years.Secondly, I cannot plant rubber, oil palms or other trees with the agarwood.

“Thirdly, the seedlings have to be planted with 100 per cent organic methods.So, I use earthworms to fertilise my trees.

“I was told if I did not follow the conditions, the raw materials that I would be sending to Japan would be rejected,” explained Ho.

He said he “controlled” the earthworms by using enzymes made from garlic and lemon grass.

Gaharu Integration With Oil Palm

Two years old Gaharu tree planted in between oil palm treess.

Commercial Gaharu Cultivation in Sarawak

Commercial cultivation of Gaharu in Sarawak is gaining momentum and contributes to the livelihood of the local communities.

Gaharu also known as agarwood, eaglewood or aloeswood is the name for resinous, fragrant and highly valuable heartwood produced by Aquilaria malaccensis and other species of the Indomalesian tree genus Aquilaria from the family of Thymeleaceae. It is among the most valuable tree species found in Sarawak in which at least three species were identified namely Aquilaria malaccensis, Aquilaria beccariana and Aquilaria microcarpa (Tawan, 2003). It is found in the plain hill slopes and ridges of up to 750m in both primary and secondary lowland dipterocarp forests.

Gaharu plays important roles in human lives. In Arab, many considered it as part of their culture and religion.

The high class of the Japanese society used it in the rituals of the Kod Doh, an incense appreciation ceremony. Both India and China had the legacy of Gaharu usage in their traditional medicine. In China, it is widely used to treat gastralgia, gastric ulcers, gastroptosis, kidney, liver and respiratory problems. It helped in blood circulation and had a complete antibiotic function against tubercle, typhoid and diarrhea bacillus.

The Chinese also used Gaharu for religious ceremonies, perfume, liquor and tea.

The European version of Gaharu is represented by the French perfume floracopia where the perfume brand “Yves Saint Laurent M7” is using Gaharu oil as its base or fixer to the other fragrance.

According to Forestry Department, Peninsular Malaysia, Gaharu prices in 2007 were RM25,000 per kg, RM20,000 per kg, RM18,000 per kg, RM15,000 per kg, RM8,000 per kg and RM3,000 per kg for super grade, grade A, grade B, grade C, grade D and grade E respectively. Prices for other grades were between RM500 – RM1,000 per kg. Prices of Gaharu chips on the other hand were between RM5 – RM100 per kg. Market survey conducted by the said department in 2007 revealed that Gaharu prices increased by at least five times in four years.

The cultivation of Aquilaria microcarpa and Aquilaria beccariana in Sarawak are in the form of in-situ mixed cropping (agrisilviculture) system, home-garden and ex-situ intercropping (mixture of timber and Aquilaria species). The earliest record of Aquilaria microcarpatree cultivation was back in early 1960s when the Kenyah community in Long Gang, Belaga involved themselves in collecting and trading of wild Gaharu. In order to conduct growth study, planting trial of 1.2 ha was done at Sabal Agroforestry Centre in April 2005. Mixed planting of Aquilaria microcarpa and Calophyllumtesymaniivar.

inophylloide (anti-HIV Bintangor species) were planted under a 22-year old Acacia mangium and old secondary forest vegetation. After six months, the first assessment was done where survival rate was 93.7 percent and another assessment was done in August 2007 where survival rate was 83 percent. At the same time, under the Community Forestry Project funded by the State Government (D60/06) poly-bags and other nursery supplies were distributed to the project participants in Long Bedian, Ulu Baram and an in-situ site in Uma Badeng, Asap, Belaga areas for them to collect Gaharu wild seedlings. As at March 2007, there are 9,742 standing Aquilaria microcarpa plants under cultivation recorded in Sarawak and another 18,000 plants are available at the nursery.

According to The Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1958 (Chapter 128) Amendment 1998, Second Schedule, CITES permit is required for Gaharu commercial cultivation, collection, propagation as well as import and export.

Gaharu from the species of Aquilaria malaccensis was listed under CITES Appendix II with annotation 1 since 17th February 1995 and thereafter it included other Aquilaria species since 17th February 2005. The Authority to issue CITES permit in Sarawak is the Forest Department.

Commercial cultivation of Gaharu in Sarawak is gaining momentum and contributes to the livelihood of the local communities. Gaharu was also proven to be a potential source of new genes as well as new products particularly drugs. Thus, it is valuable to the international agricultural and pharmaceutical industries.

Genecological zonation therefore should be done either using the agro-forestry or community forestry approach to conserve the genetic resources of Gaharu. The adoption of ethno-knowledge of the local communities and scientific approach are crucial in ensuring a brighter future of Gaharu.

via sarawaktimber.org.my

Report on Gaharu In Malaysia

Gaharu is being studied in Malaysia as a non-timber forest product that may facilitate sustainable economic development. Gaharu is a resinous compound formed in the inner wood of trees from Aquilaria and related species as a defense against disease (often fungi). It has been prized for millennia for the sublime aroma produced when Gaharu is burned or extracted into a perfume oil. Known around the world by various names – ood or oud in the Middle East, agarwood, aloes(wood) in the bible – this compound can command upwards of US$2,000 per kilogram in select markets such as Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Spearheading research into cultivating Gaharu are Prof. Bob Blanchette and Joel Jurgens of the University of Minnesota Plant Pathology Department. Following a trip by Bob and Joel to Sabah in 2006, sponsored by the Alexander Abraham Foundation and facilitated by LEAP, a joint project in Gaharu cultivation technology was developed between the University of Minnesota and LEAP to train staff from MOSTI (Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology) and FRIM (Forest Research Institute Malaysia), in Peninsular Malaysia, and Sabah Forestry Department, with MOSTI funding the costs for a three-year programme.

Field trials using Gaharu induced technology started in March 2007, in three sites in Malaysia: Sabah’s Sook Plain Forest Reserve, along with FRIM’s research plantation and Agency Nuclear Malaysia trees located in an old rubber plantation, both in Peninsular Malaysia.

A year after the start of the trials, one tree was cut at each of the three sites and evaluated. Excitingly, all the trees harvested were found to have produced Gaharu in varying amounts and concentration. The remaining trees were treated again during this visit, to maximize the amount of Gaharu produced per tree.

LEAP then facilitated the second harvest in December 2008 when Bob and Joel returned to Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia on the final phase of the programme, to cut and evaluate several trees from each site.

Meanwhile, DNA profiles of Sabah’s Gaharu trees which were originally believed to beAquilaria malaccensis were found to match more closely A. beccariana or A. macrocarpa, the former producing some of the highest grade Gaharu in the world. Further studies are being carried out to better understand all the Gaharu species growing in Sabah.



The final evaluations from the trees harvested confirm that Gaharu resin began to form after only 12 months and significant amounts were produced after 20 months. Trees with more treatment sites had greater quantities and higher quality of Gaharu and it appears that Gaharu production could be optimized by more treatment at the start, or further treatment of existing trees.

LEAP looks forward to extending the work with Bob and Joel including the interesting possibility of women from PWET (Project Women Empowerment Trees), who have planted Gaharu seedlings in their villages, visiting a successful microenterprise scheme in Vietnam where Gaharu is being cultivated and products marketed internationally.

The future hope is to use this innovative yet relatively simple technology to work with indigenous communities to create an alternative means of income generation from their land.

Gaharu

Gaharu product in Sarawak

Gaharu Plant Integration With Oil Palm Trees

Gaharu or Agarwood (or just Agar) is the resinous heartwood from Aquilaria trees, large evergreens native to southeast Asia. The trees occasionally become infected with mold and begin to produce an aromatic resin in response to this attack. As the infection grows, it results in a very rich, dark resin within the heartwood.

The resin is commonly called gaharu, jinko, aloeswood, agarwood, pokok karas or oud (not to be confused with 'Bakhoor') and is valued in many cultures for its distinctive fragrance, and thus is used for incense and perfumes.

Gaharu in Penang

GEORGE TOWN: The gaharu (agarwood) resin, whose oil extract is much sought after in the Middle East, can fetch lucrative prices of up to RM20,000 per kg, according to a university academician.

The oil extract taken from the resin produced from the aquilaria malaccensis tree, would cost several thousands of ringgit, depending on its grade and quality, said Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Biological Sciences lecturer Prof Baharuddin Salleh.

“Why is it expensive? I’m not able to answer that.

“It is the same when people ask why gold is expensive,” he said yesterday.

He added that the oil extract was usually used in perfumes, medicines and sometimes by wealthy Arabs to wash their clothes and linen.

“Other parts of the tree have its uses as well – the leaves are used in drinking tea and the remnants of the wood are used to make joss sticks,” he said, adding that the Middle Eastern countries imported gaharu oil and the wood mainly from Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia as well as some from Malaysia.

Baharuddin was responding to a series of reports in The Star regarding the illegal felling of gaharu trees in Penang, the latest incident being at Gambier Hill.

This was despite the state government’s declaration of a crackdown against the thieves.

Local syndicates with foreign connections were allegedly felling the highly-valued gaharu trees in the rainforest near the Botanic Gardens as well as several other areas.

Penang Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh had said that there would be joint operations with the police to tackle the situation, as it was a serious matter.

Baharuddin said the aquilaria malaccensis tree was widely available in Malaysia, but there was a lack of awareness about its potential.

“Malaysia is actually behind other neighbouring countries which are more advanced in the gaharu industry.

“There are not many gaharu plantations in Malaysia as it is still in the early stages, but the future of gaharu is bright,” he said.

Penang MACC director Datuk M. Samarajoo said they would initiate investigations if there was information or report on corruption (related to the illegal felling).