The closing of the one-day seminar, co-organised with the Sarawak Forest Department, was officiated by the Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Bumiputera Entrepreneurs Development), Y.Bhg Tuan Haji Mohd Naroden Majais. Also present at the ceremony was the FRIM Deputy Director General, Dato’ Dr Abdul Rashid Ab. Malik.
This seminar comprising 10 presentations was conducted due to popular demand and encouraging response to the first event which was organized in Kuching last April.
The main objective of the seminar was to enhance scientific knowledge and understanding on the importance of sustainable production agarwood resin in accordance with local and international standards. The seminar also provided a platform for FRIM scientists to share their research findings related to karas planting and production of agarwood resin.
The increasing demand and high value of agarwood have led to overexploitation of Aquilaria species in the country and the precious forest resource may become extinct unless measures are taken to control the trade and promote planting of karas tree species.
Therefore, the agarwood industry should focus on growing the Aquilaria species in plantations using high quality seedlings, and adopting suitable processing and distillation techniques to ensure optimum production.
The presentation topics included Planting Stock Production of Aquilaria malaccensis, Silviculture and Management of Karas (Aquilaria spp.) Plantation for Agarwood Production; Inducement Techniques for Gaharu Introduced in Malaysia; Chemical Investigation on Selected Aquilaria Species and their Essential Oil Composition and Diseases of Aquilaria malaccensis.
The seminar participants consisted of representatives from government agencies, entrepreneurs and individuals interested to invest in the agarwood business
