Declare Sashi plantation as agri-based farming, urges successful plantation owner

A Correspondent

NAGAON: Sashi, a specific fragrant oil containing tree available in various jungles of the State, may be an outstanding agri based source of income in Assam like as tea if the State Government takes proper initiatives to set or recognize it as a mere product of agriculture like tea, coffee or other agri-based products of the State, Aminul Islam Boxi, a renowned Sashi (Agar) plantation owner of the district said recently in Nagaon. Interacting with some mediapersons here, the farmer said that the plantation of Sashi (Agar) in the district as well as in the entire State could help a large number of unemployed youths of the State to become self-employed.

Agar wood and its valuable leaves have been playing a significant role in learning, writing and reading in the State long since the medieval ages and Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva wrote almost all their masterpieces on paper specially prepared from the leaves of the Sashi ‘Agar’ in the middle ages. Similarly, during the reign of the Ahoms, it was the royal tradition to offer Sashi wood to welcome guests or attendants of foreign countries or kingdoms as a mark of honour or respect. But due to alleged negligence by the government, the high potentiality of Agar plantation in private as well as in public sector has been ignored. Boxi said that Assam could earn more foreign exchange than tea, coffee or other agri-based products.

In addition to this, Boxi said that by neglecting the Agar or Sashi plantation in the State, the State Government was losing out on thousands of crores of rupees revenue every year. He urged the government concerned to take measures to declare Sashi plantation as agri-based farming under the State Agriculture department and to encourage youngsters to get involved in agar plantation. He said that if the government went out to help the new generation in the field of agar plantation, not only would the State flourish but it would also solve the unemployment problem in the region.

Boxi debuted in the agar wood sectors as a mere businessman in 1994 and for business purposes, he went to many foreign countries where he gained experience related to farming of the scented wood Agor or Sashi. Based on those experiences, he started agar plantation first in 60 bighas of land at Anjukpani along the Nagaon and Karbi Anglong district border in 1998 and within 2-3 years he planted Agor or Sashi trees in another 40 bighas of land at Salna Salbari.

During the last 20 years, around 12,000 agar trees in those sites have matured and the trees already contain the expected scented oil to make quality perfumes or related cosmetic products. He has started to harvest stems as well as the oil in three oil excretion units which he set up in Nagaon district. “The plantation of agar in just 100 bighas of land is a permanent economic blessing to my family,” he said.

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