Bamboo in Orissa: Trade and Livelihood Perspective - Vasundhara

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All rights reserved by VASUNDHARA(www.vasundharaorissa.org). For any clarification, contact author at sunlit1968@yahoo.co.in Some people like the villagers of Munder(Sambalpur) sell only kardi while some others(like villagers of Kodbahal) sell(used to sell) both. Purchasers of kardi either consume the same directly, or prepare hendua themselves. The sale prices may vary from area to area and season to season. At Munder kardi is sold at Rs.4 to 5 per kg, but the Times of India reported in 2003 that its price at Sambalpur was Rs.20 to 30 per kg(dated 7th September 2003, p.4). Scarcity and involvement of petty traders seems to be the factors behind this huge difference in price. In fact, the villagers of Kodbahal say that the price of hendua has almost doubled during last few years to become Rs.25/tambi 39 now. Besides western Orissa, kardi is also marketed in some other parts of the state like in the Khandapara area of Nayagarh district. Usually four lady primary collectors sell about 25 quintals of kardi per annum, @Rs.5 to 7 per kg(per comm., Abhimanyu Pradhan), in this area; and part of this quantity goes for outside supply. In southern India, the shoots are packed in 10 kg polystyrene boxes and sold fresh. Trading of bamboo shoots also takes place in many other Asian countries (Shanmughavel 2004, op.cit., p.238). The Planning Commission has estimated that the Indian bamboo shoot industry can grow at 25% and can increase its market share from Rs.48 million to Rs.3000 milion. Japan, Hong-kong, Singapore and Thailand are some of the major importers of these shoots. Japan pays Rs.70/kg for this product. Fresh- and canned shoots can be exported, and the US Food & Drugs Administration has specified certain standards for the shoots to be imported and the Indian exporters can meet these standards (The Wastelands News, February-April 2004, p.12). Value of bamboo rhizomes: Some artisans of Sundargarh district use bamboo rhizomes. If they dig it out themselves, then there is hardly any need for a cash payment though sometimes the grower may charge Rs.1.50 to Rs.2 per piece. If however they engage labourers for that, then it increases the cost of the raw material. Price of bamboo seeds Seeds of D. strictus and other species of bamboo are available for cultivation purposes. While price of the seed of salia ranges between Rs.150 to 200 per kg, that of other species may be almost the double. Gregarious flowering in bamboo provides ample scope for seed collection. Few years ago, the forest officials of Narsinghpur (East) Range planned to make the flowering in the bamboo forest under protection of Maa Brahmanidei VSS of Panchagochhia area 39 a volume measure 83
All rights reserved by VASUNDHARA(www.vasundharaorissa.org). For any clarification, contact author at sunlit1968@yahoo.co.in advantageous to the protecting villagers, by persuading them to collect the seeds so that the Department could arrange for the disposal of same at Rs.100 to 150 per kg(dry), which would have helped the villagers earn something from this source. About 10 quintal seed was expected to be collected. However, before this could be done the bushes caught fire and the chance was lost(per comm.., Kishore Kumar Parida). Otherwise, calculated at a collection rate of 4.5 kg seeds/manday, it could have generated about 2222 mandays. Flowering in bamboo: a concern over the ages: In North-Eastern States, about 26 million tons of muli bamboo(Melocanna baciifera) are expected to flower over an area of 18000 sq. km. during 2004-07(Wastelands News, Feb- April 2004, p.3) causing great concern among the concerned states as gregarious flowering of bamboo would mean mass-death of bamboo clumps over large areas increasing the risk of forest fire. Moreover, people are psychologically scared because such phenomenon has often been associated with calamities like famines, floods and human deaths, thus being perceived as an evil sign. Hence, a Steering Committee on the Management of Prospective Gregarious Flowering of Muli Bamboo was constituted to look after the mitigation of this natural problem(The New Indian Express,18.12.03, p.9). In 1959 in Mizoram, gregarious flowering of bamboo led to famine causing about 15000 deaths. As the Govt of India did not reacted satisfactorily to this disaster, the resentment among the people is said to have promoted militancy in the state for many years(Christian Science Monitor quoted in Hazari N., The Samaj, 15-12-04, p.9). OFDC harvested total 237508 MT of bamboo during 1991-92 out of which 26488 MT(11.15%) was flowered bamboo(source: OFDC). With flowering, the culms become drier making themselves vulnerable to fire. Destruction of such clumps/forests by catching fire either through natural means or through human intervention has been a matter of great concern for foresters and ecologists/environmentalists. Flowering leads to the production of seeds, and in gregarious flowering the quantity of seeds produced is huge. It is said that when these seeds fall here and there on the ground, the rodent population is benefited because bamboo seed is their food. This in turn leads to significant increase in their population, and when the seeds are exhausted, they turn towards human habitations in search of food and destroy granaries, etc. which causes shortage of food among the villagers. Moreover, these rodents can make holes in embankments and dams leading to the collapse of the latter, and the resulting disaster. This theory attempts to explain scientifically the reasons behind people's experiences of disasters related to bamboo flowering, but recent studies by two researchers D.Girish and B.Akarsh in the Bhadra Tiger Reserve in Karnataka found otherwise in case of gregarious flowering of B.arundinasia . They found that instead of any increase in rodent population, population of certain bird species, which feed on these seeds, increased. Similarly increased was the population of a bug which thrives on bamboo seeds. The researchers found that nature has its own mechanism to regulate the regeneration of bamboo by using these bugs and birds(Gubbi S., Flowering of Life, Sanctuary Asia, Feb. 2004,pp.30-31). 84
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Bamboo in Orissa: Trade and Livelihood Perspective - Vasundhara

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