Centre boosts sustainable Agarwood cultivation and exports from Tripura

The Centre has taken a series of measures to promote the legal and sustainable cultivation, value addition and export of agarwood from Tripura and other northeastern states, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh informed Parliament.

Responding to a question raised by Tripura East MP Kriti Devi Debbarman, the minister said agarwood has significant potential to generate rural livelihoods, boost exports and provide ecological benefits.

For Tripura, the annual export quota has been fixed at 22,500 kg of plantation-grown agarwood chips, powder and sawdust, along with 1,047 kg of agarwood oil for the financial years 2024-25 to 2026-27.

The government has also included the promotion of agarwood through agroforestry systems among the Union Budget 2026-27 announcements. The export quotas were fixed based on recommendations of the 2024 Non-Detriment Finding (NDF) Study, which assessed the availability of cultivated agarwood for sustainable exports.

The minister said representations from the Tripura government and other stakeholders seeking simpler procedures for the transit, certification and export of cultivated agarwood and its value-added products were examined through consultations with various ministries, state governments, exporters and industry associations.

As part of efforts to improve ease of doing business, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), in consultation with the Environment Ministry, has developed a dedicated Certificate of Origin module for agarwood on the Trade Connect ePlatform. The digital system allows exporters to submit details related to the source of origin, stock, chain of custody and inspection records, with the aim of improving transparency and traceability.

The government is also supporting scientific inoculation of agarwood trees. The Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI), Jorhat, is providing technical assistance to growers to protect them from exploitation by unregulated service providers.

The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) is further supporting sustainable agarwood cultivation and value addition through projects under the PM-DevINE Scheme, including the Agarwood Cluster Development Project being implemented by NERAMAC.

The measures are expected to strengthen agarwood cultivation as a sustainable livelihood opportunity while improving the legal and transparent export of agarwood products from Tripura and the wider Northeast.