Bamboo in Orissa: Trade and Livelihood Perspective - Vasundhara

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Project Aparajita, which imparted training on bamboo furniture, has established a unit
where machineries are available for cutting bamboo, etc.. This is expected to help those
women artisans who otherwise had to depend on male members for such heavy and
strenuous work.
In community forestry initiatives, the women of Sinduria-Kodalapalli(Ranpur block of
Nayagarh district) twin-villages have set up an example. They have been protecting the
nearby forest patch which has rich bamboo resource. In 2004 they once seized bamboo
worth about Rs.200, smuggled from this patch by some neighbouring villagers; and
penalised them Rs.500 for this offence. These women, who belong to the scheduled caste
and schedule tribe, have formed their self-help groups, and the income from bamboo goes
to the group-fund(per comm., Arakshita Sahu and Bhagyalaxmi Biswal).
Significance in betel- farming:
Betel(leaf) cultivation is an important source of livelihood in many parts of the coastal
districts(like, Puri, Nimapara, Jagatsinghpur, etc.) 33 and the product is not only consumed
inside the state but is supplied to other states also (like Maharastra). Betel cultivation is a
part of Orissa's agro-heritage and when the state has a bad reputation of depending on other
states for many agro-products, betel is among the very few products which it exports and
hence betel farming is a matter of pride for this state.
Betel vines being quite delicate, various kinds of external support is needed not only for
their growth but also for their sustenance during storms, heavy rains and also for protection
against cattle and thieves. And this protection is mostly ensured through various uses of
bamboo.
The first and foremost use of bamboo in betel farms is for external fencing and roofing. For
this purpose both the whole culm and the split parts of various sizes are used. The
expenditure against this accounts roughly for about 20% of the total expenditure in the
Jagatsinghpur district if cost of bamboo- pakhudi is to be excluded.
The support required for the betel plant for climbing is known as pakhudi. For this purpose,
the reed of a plant is used which is 75% less durable than its bamboo counterparts,
particularly in areas where white ants are a menace. It is for this reason that unlike the
farmers of Nimapara district, farmers of Erasama region in the Jagatsinghpur district prefer
using bamboo as pakhudi. While a bundle(having approx.640 pieces each of about 7 feet
height) reed- pakhudi costs about Rs.80 to 100, same number of bamboo-pakhudi (6.5 feet
high) costs about Rs.400 to the farmers of Nuagaon in the Jagatsinghpur district, and the
total share of bamboo in the farming cost increases from 20 % to 50%. Hence, for betel
cultivation in one acre of land in many parts of Jagatsinghpur district, the total cost would
be approx. Rs. 2 lakhs out of which Rs.1 lakh would be required if bamboo- pakhudi is
used. In Nimapara district, where reed- pakhudi is used and bamboo is required basically
for fencing and roofing, expenditure on bamboo would be approx. 33% for one-acre
33 However, as exceptions betel cultivation is also practiced in some parts of western Orissa, like the Sonepur
district.
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