Bamboos are indispensable for the rural people of Asia for their variety of uses in day to day life — for shelter, food, furniture, handicrafts, house building material and various ethno-religious purposes. Bamboos are useful in industry for pulp and light timber and they serve as an energy plantation to maintain ecological balance. Although bamboos constitute the most prominent economically important endemic tree species in India, yet they are classified under ‘minor forest product’ (MFP) and ‘non-commercial species’ (NCS). However, bamboo, the giant grass of the sub-family Bambusoideae of the family Poaceae, represents one of the most important ‘non-timber forest produce’ (NTFP) in the world. Bamboo is one of the earth’s oldest and most precious construction materials.

In the oriental literature and art, bamboo is depicted as one of the four noble plants. The bamboo is also symbolic of the Wiseman, who shaken violently from the storm, bends but never breaks. However, there is no mention about bamboo in ancient writing until 400 BC. The bamboo has now become integrated into everyday language of most countries. The bamboo is amazingly adaptable for a multitude of purposes. Today, bamboo contributes to the subsistence needs of over two billion people living in tropical and subtropical Asia, Latin America and Africa. Bamboo is an ideal material for housing in areas prone to natural calamities like earthquake and hurricanes. Bamboo finds major uses in the rayon, handicrafts, food, fishing and sericulture industries providing millions of job and supporting these economic sectors. The versatile use of bamboo from fuel wood to housing material, from food to medicine, from toys to furniture and from transport to pulp, makes this giant grass a plant of multipurpose utility. The plant has more than 1,500 documented uses. More than 60% of bamboos are used as pulp, housing and a wide variety of rural uses. Over 1,000 million people live in bamboo houses or houses or houses employing bamboo as the key structural cladding or roofing element. Bamboo industries generate over $2 billion in China alone. It is interesting to note that the use of bamboo in its incense stick industry in India is estimated to be worth $400 million.

Bamboo spreads over an area of 10.03 million hectares in India, which constitutes 12.8% of the total forest cover. Bamboo is perhaps the fastest growing plant on the earth, gaining approximately 75-400 mm per day. It grows three times faster than most eucalyptus species and can often be harvested four times. Bamboo is also foremost in biomass production giving up to 50 tons per hectare per year in managed stands. It is estimated that about one quarter of the biomass in tropical regions and one fifth in the subtropical regions comes from bamboo. Bamboo forms an important constituent of the deciduous and evergreen forests spreading from tropical to temperate regions ascending to an altitude of 3,000 metres above sea level. The report of the Task Force on Greening India for Livelihood Security and Sustainable Development (2001) has recommended that about 42 million hectare of India’s forest land may be covered by bamboo and other tree species through joint forest management (14 million ha) and agroforestry (28 m ha) within 10 years. There are 75 bamboo genera and 1,250 species in the world, of which 23 genera and 125 species are available in India. India is one of the leading countries of the world, second to China in bamboo production with 32.3 million tons per year. In Northeast India, the number of genera and species of bamboo available are 16 and 58 respectively, although some workers estimated the number of species in the region is 63. Bamboos are integral part of the culture of NE India, which accounts for nearly 50% of the total bamboo resources of the country possessing largest species diversity. The entire northeastern region is characterized by extensive bamboo forests having considerable socioeconomic value. The total bamboo cover in the Northeast has been reported to be 38,197 sq km, of which Mizoram occupies the largest forest area under bamboo (30.8%) followed by Tripura (27.1%) and Meghalaya (26.0%).

Bamboo plays an important role in both oral and written traditions as documented in poetry and folk literature throughout South and Southeast Asia. These traditions are a vital part of cultural identity. The northeastern region of India has great diversity of bamboo resource. This resource is owned, managed and grown by the rural masses of the region. Not owning a bamboo orchard is unthinkable in rural Northeast. The mention of bamboo in folk literature, proverbs, adages, tales, folk songs, etc of the Northeast is enormous. More recently, it has exploded into world consciousness as the ‘wonder plant of the 21st century’.

The most commonly available bamboo species in the Northeast are: Arundinaria hirsuta (short, stiff), A. manni (wild climbing), Bambusa tulda (jati – sturdy, masculine), B. pallida (bijuli – slender, feminine), B. nutans (mokal – slender and sturdy), B. polymorpha (tall growing), B. arundinacea (cultivable non-native species), B. nana (medium short, highly prolific), B. multiplex (hedge bamboo, medium short, highly prolific), B. balcoa (bholuka – strongest tall bamboo), B. variegate (medium tall with variegated leaves), B. vulgaris (tall and thick), B. khasiana (wild representative of bamboo), Cephalostachyum fuschianum (wild climbing), C. pergracile (tall slender), Chimonobambusa callosa (wild drooping), Chimonobambusa armata (a graceful species), Chimono bambusa griffithiana (medium tall), Dendrocalamus longispathus (tall, sturdy), D. hamiltonii (kako – abundant species endemic to Northeast), D. hookerii (tall, very dark green), D. giganteus (giant bamboo), D. sikkimensis (tall, sturdy), Phyllostachys mannii (short stiff bamboo), P. assamica (highly cultivated species), Pseudostachyum polymorphum (wild) and Teinostachyum helferii (rare and wild). Out of these species, B. tulda, B. pallida, B. nutans, B. balcoa, D. hamiltonii, D. hookerii are endemic to the Northeast. D. giganteus and D. sikkimensis are semi-wild, C. fuschianum, C. griffithina, C callosa, P. polymorphum and Melocanna baccifera are wild bamboo species. D. sahnii is a rare species, which is found at Zoram in Lower Subansiri, Arunachal Pradesh.

The jati bamboo is preferred for cultivation in low altitudes to mid-hills throughout the region. It is a tall and less prolific species and is used for pulping, timber, handicraft, furniture, food and miscellaneous uses. The bijuli bamboo is cultivated all along the region. It is medium tall, medium prolific and sparsely branched at lower nodes with small leaves and is used for timber, handicrafts, furniture and miscellaneous purposes. The mokal bamboo is a slender but sturdy and is used for pulping, timber, handicrafts, furniture, food, etc. The hedge bamboo is mainly used for fencing and handicrafts. The bholuka is the strongest tall bamboo widely cultivated in the plain and valley areas of the Northeast. It is mainly used as timber and furniture. The ornamental species Bambusa variegate is characterized by variegated leaves and used as ornamental plants in gardens and avenues. The kako bamboo is one of the abundant species endemic to this region and is used for furniture, handicrafts and miscellaneous purposes.

Bamboo is used in various purposes. The traditional uses of bamboo include household, bridge making, bullock cart, roof and walls, paddy seeds preservation in bhoralghar (store), piglet transport, firewood, fishing, fencing, protection, paper and pulp, artifacts, housing and packaging, earth embankment, tea industries, dance and rituals, food (fresh shoots for prickle and fermented products), etc. Young succulent shoots of the bamboo have been in high esteem for centuries as an edible delicacy in throughout Asia. In general, all large bamboo shoots from different bamboo species are used for edible purpose. Banh gaz, kharisa achar in Assam, nosom, nogom, apoka, anua of Arunachal Pradesh, ushot, soibum of Manipur, ungsei, lungpadem of Meghalaya, ken, chum, vaipadem of Mizoram, zukolak ari, zukolak an, itzuk, etzu of Nagaland, sabji, menu of Sikkim and muiagugak, muiabhaja of Tripura are some of the traditional dishes prepared from bamboo shoots in the Northeast. Young bamboo shoots contain food energy, protein, crude fibre, calcium, potash, phosphorus, magnesium, ascorbic acid, tryptophane and methionine in varied levels.

Bamboo is thus interwoven with oriental culture from shelter to dance and is put to a great number of uses. It is regarded as the ‘emperor’ among the grasses. Annual quantum of harvest of bamboo for different uses has been estimated to be 3.2 million tons. It can be a potential export commodity/products for the Northeast. The export potential of bamboo can be realized from the fact that neighbouring China exports a sizeable amount of bamboo products to USA and other countries and earn good amount of foreign exchange.

(The author was Emeritus Scientist of Indian Council of Agricultural Research)

Dr Birendra Kumar Sarma