Context: Recently, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has virtually inaugurated 22 bamboo clusters in 9 states viz. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Karnataka.

• A logo for the National Bamboo Mission (NBM) has also been released.

Key Points
Initiatives to Promote Bamboo

• Use of bamboo has been an ancient tradition in India and it is now being supported with modern technology and the youth is being provided with training for the bamboo industry.
• The Indian Forest Act 1927 was amended in 2017 to remove bamboo for the category of trees.
• As a result, anyone can undertake cultivation and business in bamboo and its products without the need of a felling and transit permission.
• Import policy has also been modified to ensure the progress of the bamboo industry in the country.
• NBM supports local artisans through locally grown bamboo species, which will actualise the goal of Vocal for Local and help increase the income of farmers, reducing dependency on imports of raw material.
• 10 most important species which are required by industry have been identified and quality planting material is being made available to farmers for plantations.
• Apart from the existing Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), 10,000 new FPOs will be formed in 5 years.
• Well-organized FPOs engage in providing a range of assistance to farmers like imparting better farm practices, collectivisation of input purchases, transportation, linkage with markets, and better price realisation as they do away with the intermediaries.
• Common Facility Centres are being set up close to the plantations which will reduce the cost of transportation and increase local entrepreneurship, moving to a zero-waste approach.

National Bamboo Mission (NBM)

• With a view to harness the potential of bamboo crop, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation (DAC), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme called Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) in which National Bamboo Mission (NBM) is being implemented as a sub scheme.
• The Mission envisages promoting holistic growth of bamboo sector by adopting area-based, regionally differentiated strategy and to increase the area under bamboo cultivation and marketing.
• Under the Mission, steps have been taken to increase the availability of quality planting material by supporting the setting up of new nurseries and strengthening of existing ones.
• The Mission will focus on development of bamboo in limited States where it has social, commercial and economical advantage, particularly in the North Eastern region and States including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Objectives

• To promote the growth of the bamboo sector through as an area based regionally differentiated strategy;
• To increase the coverage of area under bamboo in potential areas, with improved varieties to enhance yields;
• To promote marketing of bamboo and bamboo-based handicrafts;
• To establish convergence and synergy among stake-holders for the development of bamboo;
• To promote, develop and disseminate technologies through a seamless blend of traditional wisdom and modern scientific knowledge.
• To generate employment opportunities for skilled and unskilled persons, especially unemployed youths.

Key elements of National Bamboo Mission

• Research and Development
• Plantation infrastructure development
• Production of Planting Material
• Area expansion under Bamboo
• Improvement of Existing Stock
• Technology Transfer & HRD
• Pest and disease management of bamboo
• Creation of Water resources
• Innovative Interventions
• Post-harvest storage and treatment facilities for bamboo
• Establishment of marketing infrastructure

Key facts about Bamboo

• Bamboo are evergreen perennial flowering plants.
• Bamboos include some of the fastest-growing plants in the world, due to a unique rhizome-dependent system.
• Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product. Bamboo has a higher specific compressive strength than wood, brick or concrete, and a specific tensile strength that rivals steel.
• Bamboos are integral not only to the culture of India but that of the entire Southeast Asia and its versatility has led to the coinage of such terms as “bamboo culture”, “green gold”, “poor man’s timber”.
• Bamboos belong to the grass family Poaceae (Gramineae). In India, there are 125 indigenous as well as exotic species of bamboos belonging to 23 genera.
• Bamboo forests occupy an area of, roughly 12.8% of the total forest area in the country.
• They are found in almost all the states of the country, from the tropical to the temperate regions and the alluvial plains to the high mountains, the only exception where they do NOT occur naturally is Kashmir.