Emphasising that bamboo production helps the environment, the director-general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Mangala Rai, said that bamboo was the fastest growing plant on this planet and provides the best canopy for the greening of degraded lands.
Some species of bamboo grow as much as 4 feet a day. Its stands release 35% more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees. Bamboo can also lower light intensity and protects against ultraviolet rays, he said, at a three-day international conference on bamboo production and marketing.
The conference began in New Delhi on Tuesday with a call to harness the potential of this extraordinary plant.
He further delineated that bamboo was harvested and replenished with no impact to the environment. It can be selectively harvested annually and is capable of complete regeneration without the need to replant.
Bamboo was an enduring natural resource and provides income, food, and housing to over 2.2 billion people worldwide, he said.
Inaugurating the conference, the minister of state for environment and forests, S Reghupathy, called for improving the livelihood of forest dwellers and generating employment through the bamboo development programme.
The director-general of the International Network on Bamboo (INBAR), J Coosje Hoogendoorn expressed concern at the loss of diversity and lack of standardisation and training in bamboo processing at the community level. She gave examples of how bamboo plantation was helping in improving the incomes of farmers in many countries, including India.
The Union agriculture secretary, PK Mishra gave details of the progress made by the National Bamboo Mission during the last one year. The mission has been successful in promoting bamboo, especially in the North East, and generating employment for skilled and unskilled youth.
The mission, he said, had developed specific strategies for different regions. It was promoting bamboo-related activities in different spheres, namely, research and development, new bamboo plantations, establishment of nurseries, rejuvenation of old plantations, disease and pest management, bamboo marketing, and export, he said and added that improved technologies for bamboo production and processing were available in many countries and India can benefit from them.
Scientists and experts from 35 countries, farmers, entrepreneurs, NGOs, and central and state government representatives are participating in this conference.