JOIN USThe latest budgetary allocation of Rs 1,290 crore for the National Bamboo Mission (NBM) is a significant step to improve the country's bamboo economy, which was so far shackled by legal and regulatory restrictions. In December 2017, the government, in an amendment to the Indian Forest Act, (IFA), 1927, exempted bamboo grown in non-forest areas from definition as a tree. Bamboo, though taxonomically a grass, was legally defined as a 'tree' under the IFA. The twin objectives of the latest amendment aim to promote bamboo cultivation in non-forest areas in order to increase rural incomes and expand the country's green cover. As a result, this dispenses with the requirement to obtain felling/transit permit for commercial use of bamboo and would transform bamboo cultivation and bamboo economy.
Bamboo was perceived all along as a wild growth in forest areas and not as a cultivated crop that could be harnessed for profit. Commercial cultivation of bamboo will replace wood as the material of choice for building houses. Success on this score will help stop felling trees, which would otherwise be used as timber, and save the environment from further loss of tree cover. The role of bamboo in community agro-forestry as an avenue to generate income for the rural poor is important.
Accordingly, the government established the National Bamboo Mission (NBM) in 2004 under the Ministry of Agriculture to promote bamboo cultivation across the country. The NBM's mandate was to alter the misperceptions about bamboo, which has a traditional association with Indian culture. The precursor to the NBM was designated National Mission for Bamboo Applications (NMBA), which focused on value-addition to the bamboo crop.
The NMBA was an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, aimed to develop a viable industry around bamboo products. Some 85 units spread across India manufacture a clutch of bamboo products, employing 1-1.5 lakh people and annually generating Rs 500 crore. However, the NMBA had little role to play in backward support, which pertains to plantation and propagation of raw bamboo. This is under a separate mission under the Ministry of Agriculture with the specific mandate to promote bamboo plantations. The slow growth of the bamboo industry was due to lack of quality and quantity of raw material. Therefore, the government conceived the NBM to ensure availability of bamboo crop that could drive the growth of the industry.
The NMBA, with its Rs 200 crore budgetary allocation, was closed in December 2013 and transformed into a new avatar - North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR). However, these two bodies have attracted considerable controversy over financial management.
Bamboo is a versatile, strong, renewable and environment-friendly material. It is a member of the grass family, Gramineae, and the fastest growing woody plant on earth. The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan has selected six species which are most suited for development of bamboo shoot industry in India. These are: Bamboosa balcooa, Dendrocalamus giganteus, D. hamiltonii, D. strictus and Melocanna bambusoides. Most bamboo species produce mature fibre in three years, sooner than any tree species. Some bamboos grow up to one metre a day, with many reaching culm lengths of 25 metres or more. Bamboo can be grown quickly and sustainably harvested in three to five-year cycles. It grows on marginal and degraded land, elevated ground, along field bunds and river banks.
Bamboo adapts to most climatic conditions and soil types, and acts as a soil stabiliser. Bamboo produces 35% more oxygen than other trees, is an effective carbon sink, and its biomass is a cheap and efficient fuel for power generation units.
Bamboo grows abundantly in areas outside forests with an estimated growing stock of 10-20 million tonnes. About 20 million people are involved in bamboo-related activities. One tonne of bamboo provides 350 man-days of employment. An enabling environment for the cultivation of bamboo will help in creation of job opportunities.
Growing bamboo is only the first step. The larger benefits accrue from value-added products. There are emerging industrial and large-scale applications, too, in the manufacture of wood substitutes and composites, energy, charcoal and activated carbon. Besides, building and structural components represent vast possibilities for enterprise, value-addition, income and employment. Apart from ecological benefits such as soil-moisture conservation, landslide prevention and rehabilitation, conserving wildlife habitats, enhancing source of bio-mass, there's its benefit of serving as a substitute for timber.
Bamboo resources across the country, in both forest and non-forest areas, have decreased due to over-exploitation and poor management. Therefore, the bamboo grown in the forest areas should continue to be governed by the provisions of Indian Forest Act, 1927. It would ensure conservation of the environment and protect the flora and fauna. Bamboo is truly 'Golden Grass', which blesses both the country's economy and environment.
(The writer is Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Christ Deemed-to-be University, Bengaluru)