WBC-VIII-Vol.4 – Resources – Forestry, Plantations and ... - BambuSC

Seeds
Availability of seed is limited to certain specific periods only as bamboos flower only once in life time. Most of
the bamboo flower in long cycles ranging from 10 years to over 60 years depending upon the species. Usually
the cyclic flowering is gregarious and after flowering, the entire flowered bamboo population dies. The huge
quantity of seed produced are either washed out in hill slopes during rains, or eaten by rodents (rats). The
remaining seeds fallen in ideal conditions germinate to seedlings for regeneration.
Rhizome Planting
This is the most common propagation method of bamboo. The bulky rhizomes of bamboos are dug out in the
rainy season and planted in the field. The use of rhizomes for propagating bamboo has been limited to nonclump
forming species. However, following are some limitations of rhizome planting:
- Not easy to transport
- Meagre development of roots
- Decay of rhizomes and
- Slowness of rhizomes buds to break dormancy.
Off-set Planting
The term off-set is described for bamboo propagules each composed of the lower part of a single culm with the
rhizome axis basal to it. The age of off-set should not be more than 2 years at the time of planting for better
results. Propagation of bamboos by off-set planting is very common method in villages of Assam. Both age of
the off-sets and their collection time have significant effect on their survival and growth after field plantation
(Banik 1991). More success is obtained when off-sets are collected and planted in the month of April before
rainy season. Two nodes of the culm with rhizome are sufficient for better survival of the off-sets in field. These
should be planted immediately after the excavation from mother clump and should be kept in moist gunny bags
during transport.
Culm or Stem Cutting
Propagation of bamboo through culm or stem segments is known as culm cutting or stem cutting technique.
Generally culm segment of bamboos of 1 or 2-3 nodes bearing healthy buds or branches used for propagation.
Culm cutting should be taken from 1.5-2 years old healthy mother culms during February- April. The thin
walled top one third portions of the segments should be discarded for better results. Rest of the culm is used to
make either single nodded or two-noded cuttings depending on species (two- nodded in Bambusa tulda, B.
nutans,, Dendrocalamus hamiltonii and one nodded in Bambusa balcooa). The clums are cut in such a way that
about 5 cm culm length is retained on either side of the node/nodes. The leafy branch lets are trimmed to about
five cm length. Cuttings with dried and damaged buds must be discarded. After 200 ppm IBA treatment,
cuttings will be planted in raised beds under partial shade (Pathak et al. 2008).
VIII World Bamboo Congress Proceedings Vol 4-20