01 May Bamboo cultivation for sustainable income from agriculture
कृषि से सतत आय के लिए बांस की खेती The word bamboo comes from the Kannada term bambu. Bamboo is a flowering, perennial, evergreen plant in the grass family Poaceae, sub-family Bambusoideae. Their strength, straightness and lightness combined with extraordinary hardness, range in sizes, abundance, easy propagation and the short period in which they attain maturity make them suitable for a variety of purposes. Bamboo is a versatile, strong, renewable and environment-friendly material. It is the fastest growing woody plant on earth. Most bamboo species produce mature fibre in 3 years, sooner than any tree species. Bamboo can be grown quickly and easily, and sustainably harvested in 3 to 5 years cycles. It grows on marginal and degraded land, elevated ground, along field bunds and river banks. It adapts to most climatic conditions and soil types, acting as a soil stabilizer, an effective carbon sink and helping to counter the green house effect. The diversity of this fascinating plant has to be conserved, not just for financial reasons and employment generation, but also more importantly in the revitalization of traditional science and technologies. Bamboo distribution in India: India has one of the richest bamboo resources in the world, second only to China. The annual bamboo production in the country is estimated 3.23 million tons. According to Forest Survey...