Silviculture of South Asian Priority Bamboos

This monograph aims at bringing out a comprehensive collection of information on bamboo varieties in South Asia. The main focus of this book is to address the ecological and economic significance of bamboos.

Bamboo is a versatile group of plants, capable of providing ecological, economic and livelihood security to the people. `It is to shelter, to fashion tools, to weave baskets, to help water obey, to provide beauty and sounds`. In the tropics, especially the rural areas in different countries of South Asia, most of the houses are made of bamboos. In the hilly areas of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and India the tribal people take bamboo shoots as one of their major food items since prehistoric days. Certainly, it saved many lives of our forefathers. Thus bamboo has been identified as a symbol of life and became “the poor man's timber” to the Indians, “the friend of the people” to the Chinese and it is “the brother” of the Vietnamese. With high productivity and grass like leaves bamboo plants have been like by most of the herbivore animals, such as, elephants, the wild cattle, Indian Bison (Bos gaurus), and various species of deer. The red-panda in the Himalayas, and primates, pigs, rats and mice, porcupines, and squirrels are also important incidental feeders on southeast Asian bamboos. However, it is not that all bamboo species are liked by these animals rather they have some selection about the species. Reforesting and managing forest of these selected species is also important for sustainability of ecosystem and fauna of the region

There has been a growing awareness in recent years about the values of bamboo being an important means of economic growth and for improving the socio-economic conditions of the rural poor. Bamboo as an industrial material can substitute wood and that to at low cost. Due to increasing demand and squeezing of bamboo area the plants have been overexploited and the quality and quantity of resource alarmingly getting depleted. Besides many new bamboo based industries have come up which also urgently require uninterrupted supply of species wise bamboo resource. The south Asia region has bestowed with more than 300 bamboo species with enormous diversities at species, ecological and genetical level. People from their age old experiences have selected only some of these bamboo species for their socio-economic, specific ecologic and modern industrial needs; and started cultivating them with priority. A number of such priority bamboo species are found to be common among countries of the region, indicating their wide range of ability to adjust environmental conditions of these countries and various utilization potentials. Both government and private planters in the countries of south Asia have started allocating funds, land and other logistics to raise large scale plantation of desired bamboo species. Often they have queries to know the specific local and modern industrial uses of each bamboo species, how to recognize them at the field, traditional vernacular and correct scientific name of the bamboo species for making local and international trade contacts, what are the flowering (seeding) intervals and seed availability, how to have sufficient number of quality planting materials (QPM) and details of planting and management techniques. In many occasions it has not been able to answer these queries to the satisfaction of the clients due to the lack of information. This book has been drafted to find out answers of these queries mostly based on my field observations on each of the bamboo species and knowledge learnt from the indigenous people living with bamboos in different parts of south-east and south Asian countries. During last 45 years of my association with bamboo plant I had the opportunity to observe flowering, seeding and seedling of more than 30 bamboo species and the relevant information are reflected in this book. The incidences of flowering in Bambusa balcooa and B. vulgaris has been reported to be very rare and without any seed production. Such rare flowering event of these two most commonly grown bamboos in the rural areas of the region was also luckily observed and included in this treatise. Additionally I tried to collate the available documented information, especially the culm wood properties of each of the bamboo species and added in this book for their proper engineering utilization. The overall purpose of this book is to make available all possible information on the above queries of each important bamboo species of the region and serve these in one tray to the consumers.

This monograph would be interesting and useful to bamboo professionals, foresters, horticulturists, field level extension workers, nurserymen, planters, industrial entrepreneurs, ecologists, and valuable source of reference to the relevant researchers and students in the region. 

Dr. Ratan Lal Banik is currently retired and worked as Co-Chairperson from International Network for Bamboo & Rattan, New Delhi, India.

His field of specialization:

a) Bamboo & Rattan silviculture and management, propagation and nursery management, Plantation raising & management, Tissue culture and Improvement, Species Diversity and Germplasm conservation at Bambusetum.

b) Homestead & farm forestry, MPTs including medicinal plants, Horticulture and Agroforestry.

c) Tree improvement, Seed orchard, Biodiversity and Conservation, Ethnobotany and Community Role

His publications:

1. Physiological studies on the adventitious roots formation in Jute Plants. Pakistan Journal Sc. Res. 21 (3) : 81-87., 1969.

2. Clearfelling systems for Sunderban Forests. Forest Dale News. 1970. Vol. III (1&2): 44-70.

4. Studies on grading of teak fruits. I, fruit size is a factor in germination of teak seed. Bano Biggyan Patrika (Bang Journal of Forest Science), 6(1) : 1-7., 1977.

5. Studies on grading of teak fruits. II. Combined effect of fruit weight and size in the production of seedlings. Bano Biggyan Patrika(Bang Journal of Forest Science),7(1&2): 20-29.,1978.

6. Ban Abong Paribash - in Bengali. (Forest and Environment, in English). Booklet, 1978. The Art Press. Printed by the D.F.O. Chittagong, Bangladesh. Page 6-8).