Asia Plantation Capital announces commercial collaboration in India

SINGAPORE, July 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore-based Asia Plantation Capital is proud to announce Phase 1 of a commercial collaboration in India with the country's largest, public sector, agarwood plantation group - a community based project, extending across the whole of Southern India.

Vanadurgi Agarwood India was established around 10 years ago as a cooperative-shareholder business model - providing local farmers and landowners with planting stocks, and support to cultivate agarwood and other cash crops. The company has grown, and has now established over 5,000 grower plantations across South India; accounting for about 99% of agarwood trees currently in South India. In the prime plantation zone at Sringeri, in Karnataka, the company has established an old-model plantation system, an agriculture research station, an artificial-inoculum multiplying unit, warehousing and a packing and forwarding centre. In addition, a standard, resinous wood extraction facility with a large scale, primary processing unit is being planned here. Also, fully-fledged, primary processing units are planned at: Madikeri, Sakaleshpur, Shimoga, Sirsi, Puttur and Kollur (in Karnataka) with collection centres at Coimbatore (in Tamil Nadu) and at Kalpetta (in Kerala).

After visits by Dharmendra Kumar - the founder of Vanadurgi - to Thailand, and to other countries in South East Asia, to study and establish relationships with other commercial agarwood plantations, Asia Plantation Capital is proud that the group have chosen Asia Plantation Capital to work with them on developing inoculation solutions and the end-processing of agarwood into all the various (and increasing) products it can offer.

During early July, a team from Asia Plantation Capital's Specialist Inoculation and Research Department carried out field trials in India to assess the best inoculation systems - based on our experience in perfecting a system in Thailand and Malaysia which has a 100% success rate in stimulating the production of agarwood resin, and which is 100% organic; comparable to oud oils produced in nature. Jack Sirichai, who headed the team from Asia Plantation Capital's Thailand office (based in Bangkok) said, "It was an amazing experience to meet Dharmendra and his group of farmers when we arrived. Over 500 of them had travelled, for many hours, to meet and greet us with an official reception, held in our honour. We were overwhelmed to find so many people who share our passion for developing the agarwood industry and for employing the best husbandry and socially responsible management practices to advance this massive plantation industry in a sustainable manner. Providing and nurturing community support is a cornerstone of our own policies at Asia Plantation Capital; to share this with such a passionate group is key to our continued growth and success."

The Asia Plantation Capital team will now be working closely with Vanadurgi to monitor and assess our inoculation processes. All countries (and even regions) have differing climatic and biodiversity conditions - all of which have a major effect on the performance of these systems - and it is important that we tailor and research our methods to provide the maximum yield and quality of the end oud that is produced in all the regions.

Phase 2 of the collaboration will see Asia Plantation Capital and Vanadurgi working on end-processing solutions, distillation, and developing consumer products which we can jointly market - creating the world's largest, combined producer and supplier of agarwood - with the ability to offer long term, sustainable supplies of consistent quality to the global market place.

Asia Plantation Capital chooses, very carefully, whom it works with and with whom it shares its technologies. The benefits for the largest agarwood plantation group in India - gained by jointly working with Asia Plantation Capital - are the potential to create the largest, single supplier and grower in the world and to increase the market share for both companies. This offers both companies the opportunity to benefit from joint research and technologies; helping to further secure the future market and sustainable supplies of agarwood, for both companies and the industry.

About Asia Plantation Capital

Asia Plantation Capital is an owner and operator of a diverse range of commercial plantation and farming businesses across the Asia-Pacific region - and globally, part of the Asia Plantation Capital Group of associated companies. Their focus is on multicultural and diverse plantation projects, geared to the domestic and commercial demands of the countries in which they operate. Working closely with, and supporting local communities is an underlying core principle of the APC business - providing social and cultural support (as well as investment) to move these communities away from deforestation and illegal logging activities which were previously seen as a main source of income in some regions of Asia. Established officially in 2008, although operating privately since 2002, the group now has plantation and agricultural projects on four continents - with operational projects at various stages in: Thailand, Malaysia, China, Laos, India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, The Gambia, North America and Europe.

Promoting the use of certified wood is the best way of preventing deforestation, protecting biodiversity and combatting poverty in the Tropical Rainforest regions. For the Yachting Sector, which strives for excellence and which is already involved in environmental efforts, this is also a way of ensuring that no wood from illegal logging is used.

About Vanadurgi Agarwood

The Vanadurgi Agarwood India Limited is a public sector company that is exclusively engaged in the cultivation, production and marketing of agarwood. The company has enormous experience, expertise and establishments in each and every segment of the agarwood industry. The company has established over 5,000 agarwood plantations and is emerging as one of the world's largest agarwood plantation companies. Our goal is to become a one-stop-shop for agarwood raw materials, with no parallels elsewhere in the world. We plan to meet that goal through a combination of experience and partnerships with leading experts from around the world.

The company has established over 5,000 plantations across South India, accounting to about 99% of trees currently in South India. In the prime plantation zone at Sringeri in Karnataka, the company has established an old model plantation, an agriculture research station, an artificial inoculum multiplying unit, warehousing, and a packing and forwarding centre. Further, a standard resinous wood extraction facility with a large scale primary processing unit is also being planned here. Also, full-fledged primary processing units are planned at Madikeri, Sakaleshpur, Shimoga, Sirsi, Puttur and Kollur in Karnataka, and collection centres at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and at Kalpetta in Kerala.