Agarwood Trees - Source For Expensive Incense

[brahmburgers]

There's an article in today's (Monday May 28) BKK Post biz section http://bangkokpost.net/Business/28May2007_biz28.php which sings praises of agarwood and its v. high commercial value. Aparently there's a Thai entrepreneur who's been developing a strain (seedlings?) and giving advice as to growing methods. There's a mention of 'Panasin' variety of Agarwood trees. Can anyone shed more light on this?

[Gary A]

This is a copy and paste. I wanted to list the source but I can't find it back. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During recent years about 7,500 hectares or 7.5 million trees of agarwood have been planted in Laos. In order to make good profits from agarwood trees it is necessary to apply a treatment to induce formation of the valuable agarwood resin. Without an effective inducement technique very few trees would produce agarwood and most would only be good for firewood as the wood is too soft to make good timber. It was reported in the Bangkok Post (Outlook, 30 July 2006) that many disappointed growers in Thailand have cut down thousands of rai of agarwood trees due to lack of resin in their trees.

[chownah]

search the farming forum for "agarwood" and you will find four topics besides this one

[JungleBiker]

This is a copy and paste. I wanted to list the source but I can't find it back. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During recent years about 7,500 hectares or 7.5 million trees of agarwood have been planted in Laos. In order to make good profits from agarwood trees it is necessary to apply a treatment to induce formation of the valuable agarwood resin. Without an effective inducement technique very few trees would produce agarwood and most would only be good for firewood as the wood is too soft to make good timber. It was reported in the Bangkok Post (Outlook, 30 July 2006) that many disappointed growers in Thailand have cut down thousands of rai of agarwood trees due to lack of resin in their trees.

Well I don't know where you found it but I wrote that. However, you only pasted part of the story and it gives the wrong impression. Agarwood can be an extremely profitable crop to grow, but I am not doing myself any favours by encouraging you to grow it unless you include me in your investment! I would be just creating competition for myself. If you would like to invest in Laos, just let me know. Land is cheap here.

By the way, that guy in the Bangkok Post is talking BS - not about the value but about his techniques to form the high value wood.

[JungleBiker]

search the farming forum for "agarwood" and you will find four topics besides this one

I see the company mentioned in the Bangkok Post has a web site:

www.siamagarwood.com

www.krissanapanasin.com

Same web site, just two different URLs.

My advice to any of you interested in doing business with this company is to contact Touchwood instead. Or even better, come to Laos and contact me!

[Gary A]

search the farming forum for "agarwood" and you will find four topics besides this one

I see the company mentioned in the Bangkok Post has a web site:

www.siamagarwood.com

www.krissanapanasin.com

Same web site, just two different URLs.

My advice to any of you interested in doing business with this company is to contact Touchwood instead. Or even better, come to Laos and contact me!

I have sent you a PM containing some of my details.

[brahmburgers]

I looked up those URLs and I agree, the Thai man behind them (former or current ambassador to S.Arabia) is full of himself - in the sense of implying that only he has the trees and the method to make it work. I looked at the small photos of the wood (on the site) and it seemed to indicate that there's some sort of insert that a grower implants in to the trunk of the tree - in order to aggravate the tree in to producing added amounts of the coveted heartwood. I read some previous Thaivisa postings on agarwood. I think I'll stick with growing avocados - though there's still several years to wait before they yield.

[bendix]

search the farming forum for "agarwood" and you will find four topics besides this one

I see the company mentioned in the Bangkok Post has a web site:

www.siamagarwood.com

www.krissanapanasin.com

Same web site, just two different URLs.

My advice to any of you interested in doing business with this company is to contact Touchwood instead. Or even better, come to Laos and contact me!

Touchwood? hahahahahahahahahahaha

No, I'll say it again. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Oh, i wish I was free to reveal what I know about this company.

[Crash999]

Touchwood? hahahahahahahahahahaha

No, I'll say it again. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Oh, i wish I was free to reveal what I know about this company.

They tell good jokes?

[A_Traveller]

Sorry to be a bore, but isn't 'Forestry' a restricted occupation/business in Thailand?

Regards

PS Just for once I find myself laughing along with Bendix.

[vishalm22]

Dear sir,

I am a farmer from Thailand (Khonkaen district).

I have small piece of land .(20 rai), on which I grow fruits and eucalyptus trees.

My friend told me that these days there is profitability in growing agarwood trees instead of eucalyptus trees.

But I have problems in growing agarwood trees.

I don’t have technical knowledge for agarwood trees :-

Is there any institution, which teaches how to grow agarwood trees, like on which season I should plant the trees, at what interval water to be given, and what fertilizers are good for these trees.

Where can I have soil test, so that I can know weather soil of my farm is good for agarwood plantation or not.

I read on internet about the excellent work of professors from university of minesota, they said their work is for helping the poor farmers (they lie), but after contacting their company (touchwood) I came to know that they want me to invest a huge amount in their company and only then they will share some info. about plantation of agarwood.

I am a poor farmer and don’t have such huge money to invest in their investment project.

I am willing to produce agarwood through use of CA kit, but before using it I need information for plantation.

I expect from you to help me and give some information about the plantation of agarwood.

Thaks a lot

Regards,

[vishalm22]

hello..

i have around 200 agarwood trees of age around 6 - 7 years,

i am in thailand.

i dont know where can i buy the CA KIt.

i had contacted touchwood, but they are selling the investment scheme & dont want to sell the CA KIT,

plesae advice.

[Maestro]

...i had contacted touchwood, but they are selling the investment scheme & dont want to sell the CA KIT...

I wonder if Touchwood might be violating the terms of the distribution agreement they have for the CA kit by refusing to sell the kit without a tie-in to an investment scheme.

I suggest you send a PM to JungleBiker, who seems to have a connection with the manufacturer of the kit, and ask him if he can give you contact details for the headquarters of the manufacturer, so that you may fax them about your problem and ask where else you could buy the kit.

--

Maestro

[JungleBiker]

...i had contacted touchwood, but they are selling the investment scheme & dont want to sell the CA KIT...

I wonder if Touchwood might be violating the terms of the distribution agreement they have for the CA kit by refusing to sell the kit without a tie-in to an investment scheme.

I suggest you send a PM to JungleBiker, who seems to have a connection with the manufacturer of the kit, and ask him if he can give you contact details for the headquarters of the manufacturer, so that you may fax them about your problem and ask where else you could buy the kit.

--

Maestro

I think Maestro's advice to contact the manufacturer of the CA Kits to tell them about your problem is a good idea. They can be contacted via the contact details provided at their web site: www.cultivatedagarwood.com Good luck.

JB.

[Artabus]

Hi

We're all on the Net, so my suggestion is just to Google "Agarwood", "Agarwood growing" etc, then dismiss the waffle you come across (as with any other search) and concentrate on the informative parts. As with any agricultural / horticultural project, you'd focus on the factors which maximise growth for that particular crop / plant species.

Any time you approach a company that wants you to invest, you're going to find they add their percentage to the costs of actually producing the product. So Touchwood (I looked into them last year and it seemed to me their figures didn't add up) would be no different in that regard at least.

As other posters have said, the relevant thing is to maximise the yield of the resin, it's that which has the value, not the timber.

I seem to recall reading recently that the Malaysian government has set up a growing zone for people to learn from, and to help acquire and disseminate information about Agar, so you might want to have a look into that.

[lahong]

...i had contacted touchwood, but they are selling the investment scheme & dont want to sell the CA KIT...

I wonder if Touchwood might be violating the terms of the distribution agreement they have for the CA kit by refusing to sell the kit without a tie-in to an investment scheme.

I suggest you send a PM to JungleBiker, who seems to have a connection with the manufacturer of the kit, and ask him if he can give you contact details for the headquarters of the manufacturer, so that you may fax them about your problem and ask where else you could buy the kit.

--

Maestro

I think Maestro's advice to contact the manufacturer of the CA Kits to tell them about your problem is a good idea. They can be contacted via the contact details provided at their web site: www.cultivatedagarwood.com Good luck.

JB.

Hello Jungle Biker,

I am growing Agarwood and would like to get in touch with you about getting the ca-kits.

Would be happy to hear from you, intend to apply the kits this or next month. Thanks.

[JimmyNg]

how can i get in touch with junglebiker

[JohnCooper]

...i had contacted touchwood, but they are selling the investment scheme & dont want to sell the CA KIT...

I wonder if Touchwood might be violating the terms of the distribution agreement they have for the CA kit by refusing to sell the kit without a tie-in to an investment scheme.

I suggest you send a PM to JungleBiker, who seems to have a connection with the manufacturer of the kit, and ask him if he can give you contact details for the headquarters of the manufacturer, so that you may fax them about your problem and ask where else you could buy the kit.

--

Maestro

I think Maestro's advice to contact the manufacturer of the CA Kits to tell them about your problem is a good idea. They can be contacted via the contact details provided at their web site: www.cultivatedagarwood.com Good luck.

JB.

[JohnCooper]

...i had contacted touchwood, but they are selling the investment scheme & dont want to sell the CA KIT...

I wonder if Touchwood might be violating the terms of the distribution agreement they have for the CA kit by refusing to sell the kit without a tie-in to an investment scheme.

I suggest you send a PM to JungleBiker, who seems to have a connection with the manufacturer of the kit, and ask him if he can give you contact details for the headquarters of the manufacturer, so that you may fax them about your problem and ask where else you could buy the kit.

--

Maestro

I think Maestro's advice to contact the manufacturer of the CA Kits to tell them about your problem is a good idea. They can be contacted via the contact details provided at their web site: www.cultivatedagarwood.com Good luck.

JB.

[JohnCooper]

...i had contacted touchwood, but they are selling the investment scheme & dont want to sell the CA KIT...

I wonder if Touchwood might be violating the terms of the distribution agreement they have for the CA kit by refusing to sell the kit without a tie-in to an investment scheme.

I suggest you send a PM to JungleBiker, who seems to have a connection with the manufacturer of the kit, and ask him if he can give you contact details for the headquarters of the manufacturer, so that you may fax them about your problem and ask where else you could buy the kit.

--

Maestro

I think Maestro's advice to contact the manufacturer of the CA Kits to tell them about your problem is a good idea. They can be contacted via the contact details provided at their web site: www.cultivatedagarwood.com Good luck.

JB.

[JohnCooper]

search the farming forum for "agarwood" and you will find four topics besides this one

I see the company mentioned in the Bangkok Post has a web site:

www.siamagarwood.com

www.krissanapanasin.com

Same web site, just two different URLs.

My advice to any of you interested in doing business with this company is to contact Touchwood instead. Or even better, come to Laos and contact me!

Hi Junglebiker,

I have a substantial investment in Argarwood plantation near Bangkok 1400 5 year old trees that have recently been treated. Harvest is due in 1 year. Many of my trees have multiple trunks. Photographs available.

I am trying to ascertain an average value per tree. Can you suggest any organisation or individual who would be interested in buying in situ? I have a lease on the land until harvest. Your help would be very much appreiciated.

wynyardman

[JungleBiker]

Hi Junglebiker,

I have a substantial investment in Argarwood plantation near Bangkok 1400 5 year old trees that have recently been treated. Harvest is due in 1 year. Many of my trees have multiple trunks. Photographs available.

I am trying to ascertain an average value per tree. Can you suggest any organisation or individual who would be interested in buying in situ? I have a lease on the land until harvest. Your help would be very much appreiciated.

wynyardman

Hi John,

Sorry I didn't check the forum earlier.

The value of your trees will depend very much on the treatment method.

As for buyers of standing trees, I would have thought the people who treated your trees would be interested to buy them. If not, you could try Touchwood. Also, some of the booklets promoting agarwood production (that you can find in local bookshop, in Thai language) mention some organizations that buy wood (or trees?).

Sorry I am not really clued up on who is buying agarwood in Thailand as I am operating in Laos.

JB.

[Gary A]

Get rich with agarwood trees, get rich with Jatropha, get rich with Casava, get rich with rubber trees. Has anyone gotten rich farming ANYTHING in Thailand? As for myself, I'd be happy to cover expenses and see even a small profit.

ADDED - I'm not talking about scratching out a living. A number of our members do that. I'm talking about getting rich on exotic projects. I am of the opinion that the only people making money on these projects are the ones selling you some deep dark secret. Nothing is easy or free. If I depended on making money to live here, I would have left Thailand years ago.

[slapout]

Gary, I have seen no farmer in Thailand get rich, in fact most have had to find other income sources just to make a living. Selling machinery, doing contract work, whatever. The only rich farmers I have met were those who had several good producing oil wells on their land. The wealth seemed to gradually disappear as they kept on farming. The speed of decline seemed to correlate with the amount of cultivated land vs the number of oil wells, if the wells had taken all of the potential farm land they may have remained wealthy. Ranchers were somewhat better in that it tood longer for the cattle to eat up the oil income.

[jamescollister]

As I have said before, there is no easy money in this world. If you are smart you can make a return on your investment, but that's what you get a return same as shares etc. Few years ago met a pork buyer from one of the big chains n the UK. A guy at the table was thinking of buying a pig farm and was interested in making a fortune from 20 Rai. The buyer told him that to even get your foot in the door as a supplier you would need to invest 1 Mil plus US, then if you are smart you can make a return. Jim

[a90za]

Dear All,

Where can I purchase Cultivated Agarwood Kit(CA Kit) in capsule type? Do you know how much is wholesale? Thanks.

[chrisrazz]

The ca kits are 2000baht each the last I heard. I did contact the inventor, an American who pointed me to his Thai agents, from whom I never received a reply. Do some research, you can innoculate yourself. The word amongst agarwood buyers is that the kit produces a substandard character of oil that is uniform and prefer an organically produced product due to the Basenotes being different depending on the environment, water quality etc. if you want to follow the chemical route, table salt is fairly effective, mix with ferrous oxide to maintain the wound and continue to fertilise whilst attempting to harm the tree. My belief is that the natural innoculant is environmental using insect activity as a vector.

There is a fellow in Indonesia offering innoculant for sale, this is fusarium fungus, this works to a certain extent whilst retaining the organic integrity, though the chemicals are quicker and more effective. Another method I've read, though not tried, involves injecting aquilaria dust mixed with honey, I would add some ferrous material too, this will attract ant activity, which will act as vectors if the pathogens are present. I've even though of using coke, as whenever I've left an empty coke glass lying around, the ants come in abundance.

There is a borer, the name of which I've been unable to find, that is present in some of the trees we have. I've tried to trap them using wire fly screen mesh, with no success as months later they are still chomping away in there. You can spot this activity as little balls of wood about the size of fertiliser beads at the base of the tree, these guys are to be encouraged. My intention was to catch one and test for pathogens ect.

[maidu]

While hiking around west of the Burmese border town of Tachilek, across from Thailand's Mae Sai, I saw quite a few agar orchards. At one, there was a crew scarring the trees. In groups of two, usually women, they were taking metal scrappers on long handles (like a sharpened hoe with its business end straight out, instead of at a right angle) . There must be big demand in dune countries like Saudi and Iran - for there to be such eagerness to grow the stuff.