India is home to Asia’s oldest bamboo

 

In news:

 

• Two fossils dating back 25 million years were found in Makum coalfield in Assam.

 

Important facts:

• An international team of researchers found two fossil compressions or impressions of bamboo culms (stems) and after further study noted them to be new species.
• They were named Bambusiculmus tirapensis and B. makumensis - as they were found in the Tirap mine of Makum Coalfield in Assam.
• These belonged to the late Oligocene period of about 25 million years ago.
• With over 49,000 plant species reported as of 2018, India holds about 11.5% of all flora in the world.
• Now, a new fossil record has shown that India is the birthplace of Asian bamboo, and they were formed about 25 million years ago in the north-eastern part of the country.
• Yunnan Province in China now has the highest diversity of bamboo, but the oldest fossil in that region is less than 20 million years old, clearly indicating that Asian bamboo was born in India and then migrated there.
• This finding further strengthens the theory that bamboo came to Asia from India and not from Europe.

 

Wide niche:

• Presently, bamboo in a wide range of climatic conditions from as cold as 5 degree C to even 30 degrees C. And at sea level to heights of about 4,000 metres. They can survive in varying rainfall conditions too.

 

Role of plate tectonics:

• The European bamboo fossil is about 50 million years old.
•  Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate about 50 million years ago. However, the suturing between the two plates was not completed until 23 million years, meaning the plates were not completely joined, restricting migration of plants and animals.
• As the Himalayas were not formed yet, the temperature was also warm and humid in the Northeastern region, with not many seasonal variations.
• The present climate in the region is cold with strong winter and summer conditions.
• Bamboo braved these climatic and geographical changes making it the fittest in the survival race.
• Bamboo fossils are not very common in India as they are known only from the Siwalik sediments.
• Paleobotany is studied only in very few pockets in India.
• This study has shown that India is a treasure trove of plant fossils and more importance needs to be given to its study.

 

Bamboos in India:

• India is the second largest producer of bamboo in the world and has a rich tradition of bamboo in indigenous construction.
• India is the world’s second largest cultivator of bamboo after China, with 136 species and 23 genera spread over 13.96 million hectares.
•  According to the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, India’s annual bamboo production is estimated at 3.23 million tonnes. However, despite all this, the country’s share in the global bamboo trade and commerce is only 4 per cent..
• Around 80 per cent of bamboo forests lie in Asia with India, China and Myanmar having 19.8 million hectares of bamboo.
• The country is home to more than 135 different species, 50% of which are grown in the Eastern/ North-eastern states of India.
• Some of the species including Bambusa Balcooa, Bambusa Nutans and Bambusa Polymorpha are ideal for construction.
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What are the characteristic features of bamboo?

• Bamboo can growth in dry land areas, but it yields best when well-irrigated.
• Bamboo requires the same amount of water as sugarcane, about 10-20 litres per day per plant.
• Bamboo can tolerate both heavy and low rainfall, every year it gives out 8-10 shoots.
• Every bamboo plant has a capacity to absorb about 400 kg of CO2 a year.

 

Benefits of bamboo:

• Addressing pollution:

• Dense planting of bamboo on the banks of the Yamuna, will absorb CO2 but also bring down particulate matter.
• The plant is an “excellent scavenger,” its roots do not go below two feet, so it can absorb rich nutrients in raw sewage that flow untreated into the Yamuna and raise its biological oxygen demand.
• A kg of bamboo produces 4,000 kilocalories compared to 3,000-5,000 kcal for coal.
• Bamboo has 1% ash content, compared to coal’s 10-30% which poses a problem of disposal, it also emits no sulphur this makes it as a perfect replacement of coal. 

• Economic benefits:

• Bamboo is more profitable than rice and sugarcane and per capita fertilizer consumption of the plant is also less.

• Bamboo is a better alternative to coal which is already being used in Sri Lankan power plants.
• Bamboo has a big role in the agarbatti industry, India produces 3,000 tonnes of them creating employment around north eastern states.
• Bamboo is most widely used in Paper industry and new form of fibre is being derived from bamboo to weave clothes.

 

• Other benefits:

• Bamboo can be used in 1,500 different ways including as food, a substitute for wood, building and construction material, for handicrafts and paper.
• Livelihood opportunity: Bamboo is part of rural livelihood in many countries, especially in developing counties like India. Due to its versatile nature and multiple uses, it is also called ‘poor man’s timber.
• Agro-forestry:It can become part of agroforestry practice in small land holdings.
• Re-claiming wastelands: It can be planted to reclaim severely degraded sites and wastelands.
• Soil-binding agent: It is good soil binder due to its fibrous root system and hence also plays an important role in soil and water conservation.
• It is the fastest growing canopy, releasing 35 per cent more oxygen than trees. There are studies reporting that bamboo stands sequester 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide from per hectare.
• It can be planted to reclaim severely degraded sites and wastelands. It is good soil binder owing to its peculiar clump formation and fibrous root system and hence also plays an important role in soil and water conservation.
• Transforming rural India: Bamboo has tremendous untapped potential for transforming India’s rural economy. There is vast scope for expanding bamboo in areas outside forests because: a) its management is easier in these lands than in natural forests and b) due to close to user agencies, economic harvesting is possible
• Land degradation: Land degradation is a major problem confronting India. According to the State of India’s Environment 2017, nearly 30 per cent of India’s land is degraded. With its unique ability to stitch and repair damaged soils, bamboo is ideal for rehabilitating degraded soil. The short fall in bamboo plantation would have adverse impact in reclaiming degraded land as well as the Greening India programme.

 

Government Initiatives:

 

What are the bamboo related initiatives in India?

• Indian government issued an ordinance to dispense categorise cultivated bamboo as non-forest produce that can be transported without transit permits.
• The Government has allocated $200 million in the 2018 Budget to provide new impetus to the bamboo sector, with huge support to the North-Eastern States.
•  The Government relaxed the restrictions on harvesting, transit and trade of bamboo in non-forest areas to boost the bamboo economy across the country.

 

National Bamboo Mission:

• The National Bamboo Mission was launched in 2006-07 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme to promote the growth of bamboo sector. The programmes address four major areas of bamboo development as follows:

• Research and Development
• Plantation Development
• Handicrafts Development
• Marketing

• The National Bamboo Mission has identified 16 for commercial purposes.
• Restructured National Bamboo Mission launched by the Government envisages promoting holistic growth of bamboo sector by adopting area-based,regionally differentiated strategy and to increase the area under bamboo cultivation and marketing.
• Under the Mission, steps have been taken to increase the availability of quality planting material by supporting the setting up of new nurseries and strengthening of existing ones.To address forward integration, the Mission is taking steps to strengthen marketing of bamboo products,especially those of handicraft items.

 

Key Elements of the National Bamboo Mission:

• Research and Development for sustainable development and new Bamboo Agri-forestry technique for technology generation
• Establishment of new Nurseries to raise bamboo seedlings
• Raising high yielding bamboo plantations on commercial basis in Forest as well as Non-Forest areas
• Rejuvenation of senile bamboo plantations
• Pest and Disease Management of bamboo.
• Handicrafts, bamboo marketing and exports
• Capacity building and Human Resource Development of farmers, field functionaries and others
• New Marketing Strategy for Bamboo and establishment of Bamboo Markets, Bamboo bazaar and retail outlets
• Meticulous monitoring, evaluation and reporting, Database generation, compilation and analysis

 

Drawbacks of National Bamboo Mission:

• The plantation on non‐forest land involving farmers and private land owners has not taken full momentum.
•  Transfer of technology through training and demonstrations form an integral part of the NBM. But the quality of the training needs to be further upgraded to improve the practical knowledge and skills of the stakeholders. 
• Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017: The government, in a landmark initiative, has promulgated the Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 to exempt bamboo grown in non-forest areas from definition of tree, thereby dispensing with the requirement of felling or transit permit for its economic use.
• In April 2018, a restructured NBM was approved by the GOI. The restructured NBM will aim to support the development of the entire value chain of the bamboo sector starting from planting material, plantation, creation of facilities for collection, aggregation, processing marketing, micro, small & medium enterprises, skill development and brand building initiative in a cluster approach mode. 

 

Challenges faced by global bamboo market:

• India’s massive potential was not utilised all these years to increase the country’s share in the global bamboo market.
• Restrictive regulatory regime
• Requirement of permission for felling
• Transit and processing
• Export restrictions
• Royalty and transit fee on the products
• As a result, India is currently importing timber and allied products such as pulp, paper and furniture, etc.

Way Forward

• India needs to support farmers to establish bamboo plantations in barren slopes.
• A national programme of intensive bamboo plantation involving all stake-holders needs to be undertaken beyond 2019-20.
• The National Housing Scheme (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) should utilise bamboo as construction material.
• Bamboo should be used to rebuild green economy to achieve the goals of sustainable social and economic development.
• Developing bamboo as a load-bearing structural element would pave the way for its high value application in construction, which can make bamboo cultivation an economically viable way of greening the vast wastelands.
• Edible bamboo has a huge demand in East Asian cuisines and medicine. Bamboo grown in the Northeast (which is 66 per cent of the growing bamboo stock in India) can be exported to East Asian countries like Japan and Taiwan for competitive prices with the GOI’s support.

 

Source)

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/india-is-home-to-asias-oldest-bamboo/article29605048.ece