journal of renewable natural resources bhutan - Ministry of Agriculture

tallied. Further from ¼ of the plot, culms per clump, diameter (cm),height (m) and culms quality were assessed. To determine therelationship between fresh and dry weight, culm diameter classes 0-18cm, 18-36cm and 36cm and above were selected. In each diameterclass, the utilizable culm length 30cm above ground measured and top,middle and bottom section cut-off, their length measured and freshweight taken. The weight of bamboo goes on decreasing aftercollection as they contain lots of moisture and difference between thefirst weight W1(fresh weight) and last weight W2(dry weight)calculated to show the amount of moisture loss. The standard weight ofbamboo was estimated using the formula W1+W 2/2 (Rai and Chauhan,1998).RESULTSAND DISCUSSIONM. R. Moktan et alBamboo and cane resources at BjokaBamboo ( N. andropogonifolius) and cane ( C. acanthospathus )growing localities, their approximate areas and time taken to reachthese various destinations at the outskirts of Bjoka are given Table 2and Table 3. Canes are also collected as far as from Khagparang andTala under Nala geog (sub-district) adjacent to Bjoka. Based on theartisans' knowledge, total bamboo and cane area is estimated at 27.4hectares and 15.4 hectares respectively. Artisans re-iterated thatbamboo and cane collection time increases every year indicatingdiminishing supplies. The area under Khagparang, Tala under Nalasub-district and Serthang within Bjoka district were unknown45