Guwahati, Aug 26: Assam is looking to streamline the agarwood value chain and ensure that farmers receive a fair share of the profits, while aiming to develop the sector into a major livelihood generator on the lines of the State’s tea industry, Assam Forest Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah said on Wednesday.Speaking at a press conference at the Assam Administrative Staff College in Khanapara, Mallabaruah said agar is being cultivated extensively in Upper Assam, but certain restrictions are preventing farmers and the industry from fully benefiting from the trade.“Agar trees are connected economically with Assam. In many Upper Assam districts, agar is produced, and after surveying, we found that farmers are cultivating agar on nearly two lakh hectares of land outside forest areas,” he said.Mallabaruah said the government had brought together stakeholders ranging from farmers to exporters to identify ways to simplify the process from plantation to export.“The middlemen and agents have a very strong control over this whole thing, and they are taking all the profits, while the farmers are not getting any benefit,” he said.He said the government’s primary objective is to ensure that agar growers received remunerative prices while creating an environment conducive to the growth of the industry.“Our aim is that farmers need to get the benefit. They should get the right price, and the industry needs to grow in such a way that it creates a livelihood like Assam tea,” Mallabaruah said.Ministers Bimal Borah and Pijush Hazarika also participated in the event.The government is expected to use the discussions to identify regulatory bottlenecks and explore measures to make agar cultivation, processing and export more efficient, with the larger objective of ensuring greater economic returns for farmers and strengthening Assam’s agar industry.