Saihapui V is a small village situated at the north end of Mizoram, bordering Assam. There are 57 houses with a population of 290 in which every family is engaged in arecanut and agarwood plantation. The major sources of income in the village are from arecanut, broomstick and agarwood. The village is selfsufficient in their agricultural produce but did not have enough produce to sell to other markets. Another source of income is from their agricultural fields where they have a contract farming with people from Assam who take care of the fields for a share of 50% of the produce. Even though agarwood is one of their major sources of income, the sale of timber is prohibited and restricted by the government. The growers of agarwood are not aware of what exactly they are used for and which tree is of good quality in the market. The price is regulated by the agarwood traders from mainland India.

Needs:

1. Awareness program on the value and pricing of agarwood – The farmers have no knowledge on the market value of agarwood and pricing of the raw materials they grow. The rates are fixed by the merchants from mainland India and the farmers have no control on the price. Awareness program on the utilisation, value addition, and pricing of raw materials is a necessity.
2. Research in Agarwood infection and training on artificial infection.