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(UNIDO) committing funds. Other allied organisations -International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR)and International Fund for Agricultural Development(IFAD) also chipped in.Northeast, which grows about 60 per cent of the country’sbamboo resource, naturally became a major focus andthe hub of cane and bamboo development activities. Thus,under a UNDP-sponsored programme, INBAR wasinvited to set up an experimental agency, Cane andBamboo Technolgoy Centre (CBTC) at Guwahati to explorethe cane and bamboo resources of the northeast, and tobegin with, provide technical guidance to bamboo users,artisans and entrepreneurs as well as build networksbetween them and the technology providers.“One of the key components of our works is to set up ademonstration centre at Guwahati, where they can comeand see for themselves how technology can improve theirskills and products,” says Kamesh Salam, CBTC projectco-ordinator. For the last two years, the CBTC has beenpursuing those objectives, and has made some visibleprogress in creating interests among local bamboo usersand artisans.However, there are two immediate issues the CBTC isgrappling with, says Partha P. Majumdar, the projectmanager: The first is the management of bambooflowering crisis and secondly, to work out acomprehensive action plan for initiating thecommercialisation process of cane and bamboo resourcethrough a sustainable community-based bambooplantation programme that creates employment andimproves economic condition of the tribal people.In April a group of experts comprising the scientists,bamboo-based business managers and the forest officialsgathered at the Rain Forest Research Institute, regionalscientific think tank at Jorhat, to discuss how to transformthis ensuing flowering crisis into a huge opportunity.The immediate challenge is: what should be done with ahuge pile of bamboo, which might simply go waste dueto the impact of gregarious flowering? Should they leaveit to natural course as they did five decades ago, or theyshould make use of the resource?“We need to address two key aspects,” Director Generalof Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education(ICFRE), R.P.S. Katwal urged the experts. “First of all, wemust make an assessment of the bamboo stock that maybe available in the wake of the gregarious flowering, anddraw up appropriate strategies for their sustainableutilisation; secondly, develop comprehensive plans tomeet the challenging task of restocking the vast track ofarea with more valuable bamboo species.”The experts felt that a detailed resource survey andmapping of the bamboo resources of the northeasternstates had to be carried out, applying the state-of-theartGeographic Information System (GIS) incollaboration with the forest department and the ForestSurvey of India. They havealso suggested thata bamboo floweringdatabase be preparedwith the help of INBAR,RFRI, FSI and forestdepartments. Eventhough the FSI has doneinventory surveys of thegrowing bamboo stock inforest areas, the expertsadmitted that these wereunreliable as studies overthe last few decades offerdisparate account, andtherefore, an objectiveresource assessmentsystem for bamboo must be developed in the region.Courtesy: http://www.pennardplants.comRegarding the available bamboo stock, the HPC, the mainconsumer of raw bamboo, suggested that maximumextraction of bamboo should be done, if possible wellbefore the flowering; they offered to procure the bulk ofbamboo. “We are prepared to lift one million MT ofbamboo annually,” one of its senior officials told theexperts. It has even offered to become a nodal agency forprocuring bamboo from the region to feed the paper millsand other bamboo-based industries in the country. TheHPC officials fear that the Cachar unit, which uses mulibamboo, may be badly hit if the supply chain of mulibamboo gets disrupted due to flowering crisis. They alsourged the experts to suggest steps, includingimprovement of road and transport infrastructure andreview of lease and contract systems that would enablethe HPC to secure better access to the resources.However, many experts feel that considering the manyvalue-added uses of bamboo, the paper and pulp industrycould face serious resource (raw material) crunch, as itdoes not offer an attractive price for it.“Bamboo growers and users now will have many moreoptions to raise their income,” Salam claims, citing arecent INBAR study, which spelt out at least 10 majorbamboo-based sectors – construction, packaging,bamboo-board, bamboo-mats, house building, incensesticks, tooth picks, chop sticks, tools and implements,bamboo shoots, etc., – totally an economic activity wortha whopping Rs. 10,000 crore in the region.However, in order to anchor these ideas on a commercialscale, Prof. A Damodaran of Indian Institute of PlantationManagement, Bangalore focuses on a few other key issues:first, greater understanding of the existing structures andfunctioning of bamboo markets in the northeast;secondly, studying the entire bamboo supply chain –people and agencies involved in harvesting, collections,transportation, etc., – and its management to understandthe current operations both in terms of scale and extent;and finally, working out an accurate account of theBamboo plant4 INDIAN FOLKLIFE VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 JANUARY - MARCH 2003
physical out-turn of bamboo annually not only from theforest areas but also from farmlands and plantations.“Bamboo out-turn is not merely a function of stock. It isa function of harvesting systems which, in turn, relate tothe economic situation of communities that subsist onbamboo – as is the case in the North-East,” he said.All these require supportive policy initiatives forsustainable bamboo supply and the processing chainsmanagement. Several policy workshops stronglyrecommended bamboo to be treated as agricultural croprather than a forest produce that would enable thecommunity to take up bamboo plantations, and accessA bamboo that never flowered!An Apatani folklore explains whyAs alarm sounded across the northeast over theimpending fall out of the gregarious bamboo flowering,a group of bamboo experts was told to visit Ziro, a scenicpristine valley in Lower Subansiri district of ArunachalPradesh. There they learned about a unique tribe, theApatanis, who developed an indigenous method ofgrowing monopodial bamboo (Phyllostachys sp.), whichnever flowered. Locally known as Apatani bamboo, itappears to be a close cousin of China’s ‘Moso’ species,which revolutionised the Chinese rural economy, saidDr. K. Haridasan, a senior scientist of State Forest ResearchInstitute (SFRI), who pioneered the cane and bamboosurvey and documentation in the northeast. Recently hevisited China to understand the economic miracle. “Onour way back, we brought some bamboo seedlings andtried on a few pilot plots. They are showing excellentresults,” Haridasan said, suggesting common genetictraits between the Moso and the homegrown Apatanibamboo.Apatani migration story also suggests the Chineseconnection. The Apatanis migrated from Sino-Tibetanregion and came down all the way to the present locationwhere they have settled with well-developed wet rice andbamboo cultivation. “It was a long journey, spreadingover centuries,” said 55-year-old Hibu Nyani, a respectedelder of Hong village. “On their way, our ancestors carriedthat special bamboo seeds and planted them whereverthey stopped.” And from the location of Apatani bamboothe migration route can be traced, he claimed.scientific and technology inputs. Of course, “it isimportant to ensure that bamboo produce required forsubsistence needs do not shrink in availability on accountof an excessive focus on commercially significantproducts,” Prof. Damodaran opined.The state governments of Tripura and Mizoram havealready come up with a bamboo policy, which providesfor creating bamboo districts, setting up demonstrationand training centres for bamboo growers, artisans andentrepreneurs. The state governments need to addressthe more fundamental issue of creating those enablingconditions that promote sustainable communitylivelihood and rural economy.But can anyone explain why Apatani bamboo neverflowers? Apatani folklore has some explanations aboutthat too, Nyiani said. “Our ancestors told us that oncelong long time ago, there was a huge seed-bearingflowering. They were so beautiful and aromatic that birdsdevoured them all. Bamboo were unhappy; they realisedthat if they produced seeds like this they would not beable to multiply because of the birds. So they decided toraise their families hidden from the birds, through theroots. Since that time there was no flowering.”Amazingly, scientists see a sense in the story, asHaridasan goes on to explain that the Apatanis propagatethe local bamboo through the rhizomes only. They plantthe bamboo rhizomes keeping specific space to allowthem to expand. Secondly, they strictly follow a sowingrearing-harvestingschedule, which spans over three-fouryears. “Any child can tell the age of a bamboo from itscolour,” says H. Doding, another bamboo plantationpromoter, who is himself a farmer. The bamboo copsesare ready for harvest within two years. Unless they areharvested within five years, decay will start, he added.That clearly suggests why Apatani bamboo never flowers.Apatani bamboo is an integral part of the local people, somuch so that, says Tilling Doley: “We leave our housesunguarded, but keep our bamboo plantations locked.”He is planning to set up a Bamboo propagation centre athis Nana-Koo Orchid Complex at Ziro, and has beenencouraging the community to get involved in theenterprise. In fact, considering the well-entrenchedindigenous bamboo plantation tradition, Ziro has beenrecognised as the bamboo district.Subscriptiondetails forGrassroots OptionsCATEGORY INDIVIDUAL INSTITUTIONAL/LIBRARY5 ISSUES _______________ RS. 85 _____________ RS. 30010 ISSUES ______________ RS. 165 ____________ RS. 30015 ISSUES ______________ RS. 220 ____________ RS. 750Foreign subscription (for Five issue):SAARC countries - Rs. 500Rest of the world - $ 40 (Individual) $ 100 (Institutional) inclusive airmail ChargesPlease fill in the order form and mail with your remittance(DD/MO) to Grassroots Options, Lower Lachumiere,Shillong - 793 001, MEGHALAYAName Mr/Ms: ..........................................................................................................Address: ...........................................................................................................Phone: .................. Fax: ................ Email: ............................ Date: ..................BAMBOO FLOWERING5
Page 1 and 2: IndianFolklifeA QUARTERLY NEWSLETTE
Page 6 and 7: Can oral literature inform us about
Page 8 and 9: This is called jan baha “to make
Page 10 and 11: Internal metaphors like“humans ar
Page 12 and 13: ‘A Spear Hurts Its Maker’:Thoug
Page 14 and 15: AnnouncementTHE MUSIC OF SOUTH INDI
Page 16 and 17: are primarily responsible for the c
Page 18 and 19: Tribal Cultures and theProblems of
Page 20 and 21: Courtesy: http://rosswarner.comrega
Page 22 and 23: The kinship system is one ofthe old
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