Mission bamboo

A growing realisation of the immense potential of bamboo has created the need for a focused effort to exploit it to the fullest, says SK Pandey

Bamboo has always been known as an enduring, versatile and renewable resource. There are almost 130 species of bamboo in India, spread across 18 genera. These grow naturally at heights ranging from sea level to over 3,500 metres in varied habitats. In India, bamboo grows in almost 10 million hectares of forestland. In addition, substantial amounts are cultivated on homestead land, private plantations and groves. Sixty-six per cent of the country’s bamboo resources exist in the northeastern regions in terms of quantum and 28 per cent in terms of area. In fact, bamboo can be cultivated in almost all parts of India except deserts of Rajasthan and some areas of Kashmir. The estimated annual harvest of bamboo in India is 13.47 million tonnes against the current domestic demand of 26.69 million tonnes.
The world trade in bamboo is estimated at $10 billion annually and is expected to increase to $20 billion by 2015. Market share of India is estimated to be Rs 4,500 crore and is expected to increase to Rs 20,000 crore by 2015. China’s share in world bamboo market is the highest at $5 billion. India has the second largest reserve after China but exploits only one-tenth of its potential.
Four fifths of the growing stock of bamboo in India comprises of three species: Dendrocalamus strictus (53 per cent), Bambusa arundinacea (15 per cent) and Melocanna baccifera (15 per cent), but these species are not suitable for producing products that are in demand in the domestic and international market. Species suitable for making commercial products in different application segments are D.asper (for shoot and timber), D.hamiltonii (for shoot), B.balcooa, B.tulda and B.nutans (for timber), D.strictus and D.stocksii (for crafts, structural and household applications), need to be cultivated under controlled conditions in India.
There is a growing realisation that the potential of bamboo in the country has not been tapped to its fullest. Bamboo is being ‘rediscovered’ in India as its attributes and potential are increasingly recognised.

Some of the advantages of bamboo cultivation are:

It is clear that a coordinated and concerted effort is required to translate the growing corpus of knowledge into application areas, and provide tangible support to the bamboo industry. In recent ears, the institutional support mechanism for bamboo plantation has been developed. The Planning Commission under the Tenth Five Year Plan, is laying emphasis on managing the cultivation and increasing usage of bamboo, and the National Mission on Bamboo

Applications (NMBA) has been set up under the Department of Science and Technology.
The task of implementing the NMBA is entrusted to the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC). The Mission aims to provide a new impetus and direction to the sector to enable the realisation of potential. It supports technological upgradation, develops indigenous capacities and enterprise and provides linkages with markets across the country. It functions as a platform for the exchange of knowledge and technology and encourages association and cooperation amongst sectoral constituents and stakeholders.

The Mission undertakes knowledge and information gathering and dissemination, technology development and validation, demonstration activities, standard setting and testing of materials and bamboo based products. It also supports entrepreneurial projects with technology and technology development assistance, in the form of repayable finance to the extent of 50-70 per cent of project cost, depending on the size of the project. Market assessment of the products carried out by the Mission helps entrepreneurs to plan appropriate market positioning, penetration and targeting.

The NMBA mainly seeks to:

generation with improved remunerative opportunities.
Several state governments have also identified the bamboo sector as a key element for development. They have taken steps to constitute bamboo development agencies and are formulating state bamboo policies for integrated development of the sector.
One of the constraints inhibiting the development of value-added bamboo-based enterprise in the country is that of securing raw material. In most application areas there is a requirement of adequate quantities of quality raw material – in terms of species, maturity, wall thickness, internodal length and the harvesting technique and post-harvest treatment. The NMBA is developing, demonstrating and encouraging intensive and scientific cultivation practices for higher productivity.
The Mission also provides technology packages for cultivation of high yield plantations of identified species for different end uses, and helps in sourcing quality plant material. Sufficient availability of quality plant material is a pre-requisite if a large-scale programme of high yielding plantation is to be taken up. The Mission is developing improved propagation practices, and identifying and establishing a network of suppliers of plant material, including tissue-cultured....

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