Bamboo
Blues
Sanghamitra
Chakravarty reviews the scope of the bamboo industry in India and
pontificates on the grievances that plague development
Bamboo
is a grass belonging to the family Poaceae. It is an enduring, versatile
and highly renewable resource found naturally on every continent except
Europe. The growing stock of bamboo is estimated at over a 100 million
tonnes spread over forest areas, homesteads and private plantations.
Of the 20 million tonnes harvested every year, almost three-fifth
is from India and China. China has emerged as a pioneer in bamboo
products, with the contribution of these products to the Chinese economy
estimated at over 30 per cent.
A
significant growth in China’s bamboo sector has been possible only
through coordinated research, incentive regimes, provisioning of support
services, changes in agro forestry practices, and the fostering of
close linkages with markets.
India
has the second largest bamboo resources in the world, second only
to China. Though India has a deep-rooted legacy of traditional bamboo
skills and usages, their potential and attributes have never been
fully exploited. In India, the commercial use of bamboo until today
has been basically in the pulp and paper industry. But now bamboo
is being rediscovered and new high end products are being developed
through research and application of technology.
A
bamboo culm reaches its full height, which in some species may exceed
30 metres, within two to three months. The plant has a high biomass
and can be harvested within two to three years for most purposes.
It falls within the category of Non Wood Forest Products (NWFP) but
unlike other NWFP, exploitation of bamboo for commercial uses has
yet to begin in other bamboo-growing countries besides China and Thailand.
With characteristics that are similar to those of wood, the classification
of bamboo as an NWFP is a highly debatable issue.
Indian
bamboo is basically sympoidal with the exception of Phylostacchus
bambusoides, cultivated by the Apa Tani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh.
The three species commonly found are:
- Dendrocalamus
strictus (53 per cent)
- Bambusa
arunidacea (15 per cent) and
- Melocanna
baccifera (15 per cent).
Despite
India’s wealth of resources, there is a raw material constraint inhibiting
the development of value added enterprises. Raw material in adequate
qualities or quantities, for different purposes is not readily available.
The average productivity of bamboo from forest areas is .33 tonnes
per hectare. This is a low figure, which can be improved by better
propagation and cultivation regime. Management practices like good
quality planting material, use of fertiliser, protection from grazing
would help immensely. Moreover, marking and grading of bamboo to indicate
maturity of culm/clump as practiced elsewhere should be introduced.
Installation of a grading system for classifying bamboo according
to its age, height and thickness would ensure better prices, and provide
an incentive to grow and supply bamboo of the required maturity, quality
and species. At the same time, there would be a market for different
qualities of bamboo, since there would be many and diverse product
applications.
Another
factor hindering the development of this sector is that the processing
machinery and equipments available in India are not satisfactory in
terms of performance, production capacity, cost and smooth running
for estimated life cycle. The imported machinery may not always be
suitable for the sympoidal bamboo growing in our country. The high
silica content in Indian bamboo results in accelerated wearing out
of blades. Moreover it is difficult to procure spare parts and after
sales service is poor as the machinery is bought through local agents.
Though some manufacturers in India have designed and fabricated machines
indigenously or modified imported machines, they are not being able
to cater successfully to the growing requirement for bamboo processing
machinery. The development and validation of processing machinery
is imperative for producing quality product at a competitive price.
Commercial
applications
-
Wood substitutes and bamboo composites
- Activated
carbon
- Bamboo
shoots utilised for food and agro-processing.
Bamboo
composites
Indiscriminate
deforestation has led to an environmental imbalance and therefore
cutting of forest trees has been banned in many countries. In contrast
to hardwood species, which take 80-100 years to mature, bamboo is
highly renewable with two to four years of maturity cycle.
contd...
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