Research Article

Documenting the Constraints and Its Allied Factors in Agar (Aquilaria malaccensis Roxb.) Tree Cultivation at Farm Level: A Case Study in Bangladesh

Md. Iqbal Hossain
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Bangladesh
* Corresponding author
Md. Abiar Rahman
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Bangladesh
Satya Ranjan Saha
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Bangladesh
Md. Mizanur Rahman
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Bangladesh
Md. Safiul Islam Afrad
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Bangladesh
Jannatul Ferdousi
Sylhet Agricultural University, Bangladesh
DOI icon 10.24018/ejfood.2021.3.5.353

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Submitted 2021-08-11
Published 2021-09-02

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Article Main Content

The study was conducted to investigate the socio-economic characteristics of the agar farmers, the extent of constraints in agar wood cultivation; and the factors allied with constraints in agar tree farming. Despite the enormous potential of agar (Aquilaria malaccensis Roxb.) production in Bangladesh, it has yet to gain traction due to socioeconomic, technical, and marketing challenges. The cultivation of agar trees is largely centered in the Sylhet region, where a large number of agar farmers engage. This research was carried out in Maulvibazar district's Barlekha upazila (sub-district) to better understand and assess the restrictions and factors that affect agar tree cultivation. A survey was conducted with 120 households during September 2018 to March 2019. Descriptive statistics, rank order, coefficient of correlation, and multiple linear regression were used to examine the data. Out of 12 constraints, the most significant barrier was a lack of funds to engage in agar farming (2.81), which was followed by a lack of technical guidance (2.71). The lack of labor was the least important constraint faced by the farmers (1.43). It was revealed that education, household size, farm size, number of trees per farmer, annual income, experience in agar farming, agar wood cultivation under trees and knowledge of agar cultivation of the farmers were shown to be realized to agar plantation constraints. However, education, farm size, annual revenue, and agar growing experience were identified as major drivers of the degree of agar farming constraints. The study identified various policymakers' potential to address the influencing variables (education, farm size, annual revenue, and agar farming experience) in establishing agar farming. Furthermore, finance facilities, adequate agar farming instruction, and forest department introspection could all help to reduce agar farming obstacles.

Keywords: Agar tree cultivation, socio-economic characteristics, constraint, Agar farmers Bangladesh

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