The wonderful natural resource E.C. Thomas*
	17:11 IST

Bamboo has come up as a versatile substitute for wood, a raw material for industry and a natural product for artistic handicrafts. India is now on the threshold of a bamboo movement for employment generation and providing livelihoods to millions of people. Bamboo, a multipurpose agro-forestry crop, has been an integral part of the Indian culture. With a large variety of traditional uses, bamboo has been aptly described as the ‘poor man’s timber’, ‘green gold’, ‘friend of the people’ and ‘cradle to coffin timber’. Bamboo is a group of fast growing woody plant with 136 species in India. It grows abundantly almost all over India, except the Kashmir valley. Several exotic bamboo species also grow very well in many parts of the country. Bamboo forests constitute about 13 per cent of the total forest area of India. The total annual production of bamboo in India is estimated to be 5 million tonnes in 2003 – 2004. About 50 per cent of the bamboo produced in India grows in the North-Eastern region and West Bengal. India has the second largest bamboo reserves in the world after China, but has tapped only one-tenth of its potential. The world trade in bamboo is currently estimated at 14 billion US dollars every year by the National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA). Botanically, the bamboo is a tall, woody grass which puts out several full length, full diameter, naturally pre-finished, ready-to-use stems each year. A single bamboo clump can produce up to 15 kilometres of usable pole in its life time. Potential Bamboo is an under-utilized natural resource in the country. It can be used to produce many items of daily use that are currently made out of plastic or other less eco-friendly materials. Bamboo is one of the world’s best natural engineering materials. Its strength-to-weight ratio is better than that of teak wood and mild steel. Bamboo grows much faster than wood and needs relatively little water. It can also be recurrently harvested. A dense bamboo cover enriches the soil by arresting erosion and taming flash floods. It offers stakes to trees, fodder to animals and food to humans. This makes bamboo a key element in maintaining the ecological balance and ensuring sustainable food and livelihood security. A National Mission on Bamboo Technology and Trade Development has been launched to involve the community in growing and primary processing of bamboo. The Mission will promote not only the industrial application of bamboo but also for cultivation of suitable species for specific end uses. This will ensure a scientific development and utilization of bamboo and prevent its over-exploitation as has been the experience with timber the world over. The Mission envisages strengthening of the resource base by planting bamboo in 2 million hectares in forest and non-forest lands, including wastelands. It proposes to organize community-level common facility centres where village artisans can work for value addition to bamboo. It also envisages the development and adoption of technologies and processes for enhancing the efficiency and quality in producing bamboo-based products. This way the farmers will get a new choice of a perennial horticulture crop, community lands will get a remunerative and eco-friendly tree cover and the artisans a sustainable and attractive medium for their crafts and an opportunity to fashion innovative ways of earning a decent living in their own habitat. Covering a total area of about 10 million hectares, bamboo is also cultivated in homesteads and farms. In the North Eastern region, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Kerala, bamboo is available in adequate quantities to support additional small scale industry to make value added products. It has been found to be highly suitable for reforestation of degraded lands. Products Bamboo is an age-old material with a thousand traditional uses. Emerging technologies have enabled new uses and products. In 1879 Edison’s lightbulbs used bamboo filaments. Some 125 years later, bamboo continues to re-invent itself. The latest products include innovative housing, bamboo-glass fibre composites, prefabricated structures, wood and plywood substitutes, laminated flooring and corrugated roofing. Bamboo’s natural versatility is suitable to a variety of environments. It is strong, weather-resistant, rigid and more stable and flexible than almost all types of wooden board. The North-Eastern States have geared up to boost bamboo cultivation and bamboo-based industries following the opening up of trade relations with Bangladesh, Myanmar and China. This region has over 50 per cent of the 136 species of bamboo found in the country. Individual States have formulated their own bamboo policy and set up separate cells to monitor the bamboo-based industries. Meghalaya has emerged as a pioneer in bamboo-based industry. The State has three bamboo industry units with a combined investment of about Rs. 120 million producing bamboo particle boards, bamboo mat boards, bamboo corrugated sheets and bamboo veneer composites. Tripura, which began official trade with Bangladesh in 1995, has a separate bamboo policy. Tripura exports its cane and bamboo handicrafts. Industry As per official estimates, the Indian bamboo industry has a size of Rs. 2,040 crore per year at present, while the domestic market potential is Rs. 4,463 crore. It grows at a rate of 15-20 per cent and is projected to be worth Rs. 26,000 crore industry by 2015, given the comprehensive promotional schemes under the National Bamboo Mission. Currently, the bamboo products industry solely relies on the domestic market, while there is a huge demand for its products in the US, the EU, Latin America and in the South East Asian countries. Apart from the yet-to-be-fully-tapped potential as a timber and handicrafts material, the bamboo is acknowledged to have great potential as a non-conventional energy source. The Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) has launched a few pilot projects to develop the potential of bamboo as an energy source. India is projected to become a world leader in bamboo exports by 2015. *Senior Freelance Writer