Agarwood

Precision Farming is the Future of Food Production

We are all familiar with rice, oil palm, rubber and durian. Rubber is grown for rubber latex, which finds wide use in thousands of products that have served us all well. Lately, rubber gloves, in high demand due to the pandemic, have emerged as a big money-maker. The export of rubberwood furniture has earned big bucks for the country. One estimate has put the income from rubberwood furniture as more than RM10 billion. The oil palm is the nation's golden crop, bringing in around RM80 billion each year. Although about 80 per cent of palm oil end up as food, a [...]

The Health Benefits of Drinking Agarwood Tea

It seems that the famous celebrity, Doctor Oz, got us all thinking about the benefits drinking of green tea, and so, a ton of little-known herbal teas were brought into the forefront of the media, due to their slimming and detox properties. Some of these natural loose leaf teas may be new to us in North America, but they are not new, in any sense of word, to the world around us. One such herbal tea is the virtually unheard of agarwood tea leaves. While it is a predominant force in Asian medicinal and spiritual practices, not too many of us [...]

Why is Agarwood so expensive?

First-grade agarwood can cost as much as $100,000 per kilogram. Why is Agarwood so expensive? First-grade agarwood can cost as much as $100,000 per kilogram. In order for the aquilaria tree to produce any agarwood, it must first become infected. Agarwood chips also known as oud are carved out by hand. Narrator: For thousands of years, agarwood has been known as "The Wood of the Gods." First-grade agarwood can cost as much as $100,000 per kilogram, making it one of the most expensive raw materials in the world. But for this tree to produce any agarwood, it must first become infected with [...]

Thailand Government to allow Trees as Collateral for Loans

Bangkok Thailand, August 2, 2020: Owners of 58 economically valuable trees will be able to use them as collateral when applying for loans at financial institutions under a new Thailand Government policy, Government spokesperson Narumon Pinyosinwat said on her Facebook page. “This policy was proposed by the Ministry of Commerce as a measure to help people gain access to financial aid and promote the growing of economically valuable trees in communities,” she said. “The ministry therefore issued a regulation regarding other types of valid collateral that can be used under the Business Collateral Act BE 2558, while the types of economically [...]

Royal Thai Forestry Department Registration

BANGKOK, May 3, 2020 (Press Release) - Bangkok, Thailand based Plantations International Co. Limited who is part of the Plantations International Group of companies is very pleased to announce that the Royal Thai Forestry Department has accepted and approved its registration of its latest Agarwood tree plantation in Chonburi, Thailand. The Royal Thai Forestry Department is a department in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and part of the Government of Thailand. It is Thailand's premier authority on all forestry related issues and forestry licensing matters. Plantations International currently has two offices in Thailand, its main administrative headquarters are [...]

The Unique Fragrances of Agarwood

Agarwood (Aquilaria spp.) fragrance and its origin in stress make it probably the most suitable model to study stress-induced aroma. Production being confined only to certain small pockets of South and Southeast Asia, agarwood is arguably the costliest wood in the world. Formation of fragrant agarwood resin is the outcome of complex biotic, abiotic, and physical stress on the Aquilaria trees. The intricate mechanism by which some 150 odd fragrant molecules that constitute agarwood aroma is formed is still not clearly understood. The present review therefore aims to bring to focus this less known but highly valuable stress-induced aroma from Asia. [...]

Cracking Down on Illegal Agarwood Logging

Illegal Agarwood logging is a massive environmental and economic problem that has plagued governments for decades. One of the principal causes of deforestation of the Agarwood tree in Asia, illegal logging can take a variety of forms, from harvesting the oud oil from protected areas to felling protected tree species to falsifying timber licences. Many international organizations have taken a stand against illegal logging, and consumers are now demanding stricter standards for imported timber. Illegal Agarwood logging can have far-reaching and devastating consequences. The widespread deforestation it causes can inflict huge damage on animal habitats, and can deprive local communities of [...]