Do tree, called Aquilaria tree, used for produce agarwood, is one of the most precious plants listed in Red Book of Vietnam and in the world...
Do tree, called Aquilaria tree, used for produce agarwood, is one of the most precious plants listed in Red Book of Vietnam and in the world. However, among 100 Aquilaria trees are only 10 ones which can produce agarwood. As a result, it becomes the target of agarwood seekers and is threatened with extinction.
° Growing Aquilaria trees in garden
 |
| Mr. Dua making wounds on an Aquilaria tree. |
Nguyen Dua is a forestry carde of Ninh Phu Commune, Ninh Hoa District, Khanh Hoa Province. A short time ago, seeing many groups of people with backpacks, knives, bush-hooks going towards the forest everyday, he wondered where they were going to and who they were. Then, he knew they were agarwood seekers in Hon Heo where he managed. That circumstance led him to a merchant in agarwood.
However, because the amount of agarwood got less and less, his new job went worse and worse. Thus, he harboured the thoughts of growing Aquilaria trees in his garden. Up till 2002 when the Agricultural Expansion Encouraging Center of Khanh Hoa Province, his thoughts came true.
Mr. Dua confided, “One day, I read an article on a newspaper about a farmer in Quang Nam province who grew Aquilaria trees and made agarwood successfully, then I seeked him to study his experience and buy seedlings to grow in my garden. At first, due to my inexperience, so many Aquilaria trees died that I couldn’t count. After a long time, now my garden has 150 Aquilaria trees, aged from 3 to 5, and 20 of them can produce agarwood. It’s a satisfactory result. Agarwood of Vietnam is highly appreciated in the world thanks to high quality; therefore Agarwood of Vietnam is very expensive in comparison with Agarwood in India, Indonesia and Singapore”.
° Waiting for agarwood
 |
| An Aquilaria tree having natural agarwood. |
According to Mr. Dua, agarwood is taken from the foot, root or upper trunk of old, knobbed or ill Aquilaria trees. Basing on natural principles, he has found the way to make artificial agarwood as follows: He creates wounds on Aquilaria trees by boring 1cm wide and 2cm deep holes which are 20cm apart from each other and keeps the wounds unhealed so that bacteria are easy to infest. One year later, agarwood will appear around the wounds. Now Mr. Dua is searching other ways to shorten the time to make agarwood.
Beside agarwood, Aquilaria trees can produce wood, aroma and agarwood attar. Aquilaria trees can make agarwood since they are 4-5 years old. The older they are, the more agarwood they give.
When dipped in water, agarwood is considered to be Type 1 or 2 (the best) if sunk deep, to be Type 3 or 4 if not sunk and not floating, and to be Type 5 or 6 if floating. Agarwood is pungent and bitter. In Oriental medicine, agarwood is used for making precious remedy.
Khanh Hoa province has a large area of forest land, which is suitable for develop agarwood; therefore Khanh Hoa has been considered as the agarwood land. Excessive exploitation of agarwood seekers has made source of agarwood in the province exhausted day by day. However, we believe that farmers who have been growing Aquilaria trees in their gardens to produce agarwood will bring a more future for Khanh Hoa’s agarwood.
T.T
