Bamboo is integral to the culture of South-East Asia. Over 75 genera and 1250 species are reported to occur in the globe. India perhaps has the world’s richest diversity of bamboo, claiming about 130 species occurring over an area of 10.05 million ha. This is about 12.8 per cent of the total forest area of the country.
The bamboo diversity in natural habitat is dwindling, due to over exploitation shifting cultivation practices and extensive forest fires. A sustained availability can be ensured only by elaborate bamboo cultivation through community forestry programmes based upon growing trees on public (or) community land as opposed to private farms.
The degree of local participation in planting and looking-after the tree varies, and the benefits are shared by community as a whole. The methods in raising bamboo plantations through community forestry suggested.
Bamboos are giant, woody, tree-like-grasses with a long history as an exceptionally versatile and widely used resource, Bamboo is a cultural feature of South and South-east Asia. No country in the region is without an indigenous bamboo flora.
Its plethora of essential uses has led to the use of terms such as the “poor man’s timber”, the cradle to coffin plant, “green-gold”, bamboo friend of the people and it still provides the material needed for the existence. Yet over- exploitation associated with growing human populations, destruction of tropical forests and new demands on the resources for industrial uses, especially by the pulp and paper industry, has resulted in wide- scale decimation of bamboo stocks.
Compared with the vast forests of the bamboo found in South and South-east Asia at the beginning of this century, we are left with the current situation of acute scarcity. Efforts are therefore, underway research into cultural and agronomic techniques which will boost bamboo production. So, the forest department can include bamboo as an important species for the community forestry programmes.
Community forestry programmes are based upon growing trees on public (or) community land as opposed to private farms. The degree of local participation in planting and looking-after the trees varies. What all community programmes have in common, is that they are intended to provide benefits which are shared by the community as a whole.
The most common type of community forestry programmes is that, in which the forest department takes on the responsibility for carrying out the planting. Inputs such as fertilizers and seedlings are provided without any outlay by the community.
The engagement of the local community in the implementation of the schemes of this type is largely passive and is normally restricted to the provision of hired labour for planting and an agreement to co-operate in protecting the plantation.
Other programmes rely on a much higher level of community participation and control. They are generally designed to use land, which is under direct community ownership; (or) they can take place on state lands, which have been specially designated for community control.
The main responsibility for planting and looking-after the trees are taken by community itself and the role of the promoting agency is primarily a catalytic one. Community programmes can use both commercial and non-commercial incentives as a way of stimulating local participation. In all cases, the key to success lies in persuading local people that the programme is in their interests as, that the benefits they are promised are securely guaranteed.
Guidelines to Raise Bamboo Plantations under Community Forestry Programmes:
By far, the-single-most important item of forest produce used by rural communities of the tropics, from the cradle to the coffin, is the bamboo. Over 75 genera and 1250 species are reported to occur in the world.
The demand for this material has increased for beyond the availability, causing serious problems of over-exploitation and depletion of resources. Cultivation of bamboo can provide a cost effective return within short term (3 years). To increase the pace of greening, the country and in the alleviation of poverty, it expedient to evolves an appropriate technology for successful raising bamboo plantations at economical costs, through community forestry.
The methods of successful raising of bamboo plantations are as follows:
(a) Preparation of Nursery:
Nursery beds of 10 x 5m were prepared in the field and filled with a mixture of soil and sand (3:1). The seedlings (Bambusa bambos) when about 7 cm in height were picked-out from the polythene bags (Seedlings from the tissue culture methods were obtained since, bamboo seeds possess very short period of viability).
About 15-25 seedlings were planted in 1m2 of raised nursery beds, (one week prior planting, the nursery beds were drenched with 0.01% Aldrex and 0.05% Bavistin to prevent termite and fungal attack respectively). Watering was done 2-3 times a day. Care was taken to avoid over saturation. Nursery beds were provided with a thatch to protect the seedlings from direct sunlight.
(b) Transplanting:
The seedlings in the nursery were uprooted carefully and transplanted to 45 x 45 cm pit in the fields, before the onset of monsoon. The seedlings were planted with 6m x 6m spacing in 3 ha area with 250 seedlings/ha. To provide better initial growing environment to the seedlings, the upper halves of the pits were filled- up with a mixture of 25 gram of complex (17: 17: 17) per pit, while lower halves were filled-up with the original soil.
The transplanted seedlings were watered two hours regularly in the morning and evening. Weeding was done as and when required. After one year, the plantation was adequately irrigated with 15 days interval. Protection against damage by rodents, grazing and browsing animals were provided by brushwood fence.
(c) Growth and Production of Culms:
All the transplanted seedlings produce rhizomes. The culm buds emerge with the onset of early rains and grows rapidly. The total number of culms in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th year old clump/ha was 1250, 2250, 3000, 3500, 4000 and 4250 respectively. The culm height in 1st year was 1.4 m, 3.2m in 2nd year, 9.6 m in 3rd year, 21.8m in 4th year, 27.2 m in 5th year and 28.5 m in 6th year. Their corresponding diameters at different ages were 2.3 cm, 3.3 cm, 4.3 cm, 4.8cm, 6.3cm, and 8.3cm, respectively.
An unusual rain during winter months may induce the emergence of new culms but they do not grow successfully, like those produced in the rainy season. The productivity of new culms mostly depends on the degree of congestion, clump age and rainfall of the previous year. It was noticed that annual recruitment of culms increased proportionately with age (Table 1).
Process of Growing:
The appearance of the culm was very slender and the growth of sprout was slow in the beginning. It gradually began to grow faster till the culm reached maximum and seized thereafter. The daily average growth height of the culm was approximately 30 cm. Till 32nd day the internodes were wrapped with sheaths and thereafter, during the 1st month the culms lost their sheaths. After 50 days, branch buds began to develop.
These branch buds increased two to three in number in a circle and were clearly visible after 60 days. Their length began to increase upto 30 days (i.e. 90 days after their emergence), after which leaf buds began to appear on their nodes alternately. These leaves began to mature in the subsequently 30 days of their visual appearance.
They varied their length from 15-20cm and were simple long leaves. The leaves attained their full development around 135th day. Thereafter, the culms began to change their hardness and colour. The new culms were produced peripherally from the outer edge of the clump and tended to grow inwards and get entangled among the older culms.
Scope and Aim of Community Forestry Programmes:
Scope of Community Forestry Programmes:
The interest complexity of Community forestry programmes, with their needs for compromise and reconciliation of opposing interests, means that they will always require a great deal of careful preparation and negotiation. This demands a high level of trust and co-operation between the community and the promoting agency which can, itself take a long time to create.
Aim of Community Forestry Programmes:
The aim of community forestry programmes are to regenerate the degraded forests and barren lands.
(a) Local Institutions:
Community tree growing programmes are crucially dependent upon the active collaboration of village councils, community groups (or) other local institutions. Programme planning must therefore; be based upon a clear appreciation of actual role, such organizations plays in local affairs, their potential for realizing (or) thwarting the aims of the programme.
The village community groups should be trained (or) giving proper instructions, about the growing of bamboo in the barren land by the specialists in the field. While selecting the village community groups, preference will be given only to the educated un-employed youths.
(b) Land Allocation:
Maximum 25 ha area of degraded / barren forest land is to be allocated at a time to each participating village group. In future, more land can be allocated if the work of the participating village committee is found encouraging.
(c) Procedure of Working:
After collaborative micro-planning, a need-based management plan will be drawn-up. The forest department will assist the village committee to establish joint protection and management systems.
(d) Requirements / Rule of Working:
Order requires participating village committees to project the allocated land against non-forestry use, encroachments, grazing, illicit-felling and wildlife. Land in no case is to allocated to individuals and ownership of the land shall remain with the Government. It is also required to execute an agreement bond-between forest officials and the participating village committee.
(e) Resource Sharing:
Entire bamboos obtained from community forestry programmes will go to the members of the participating village committee. At the time of harvest prescribed in the management plan, after deducting the government expenditure, 60 percent share of net income will go to the members of the participating village committee and 40 percent share to the state exchequer. Participating village committee will again invest at least 50 per cent of this income in plantation activities.
(f) Monitoring of Works:
A supervisory committee is to be constituted to monitor the development, protection and management works of the community forestry. Members of the committee will include respective district forest officer, a range officer and a representative of village committee members.
Limitations of Community Forestry Programmes:
(a) The Problem of Land – Use Conflicts
Obtaining the necessary land for tree growing is undoubtedly one of the major stumbling blocks in programmes of this type. Community land is frequently scarce (or) is being used for a variety of other purposes. Agreement to dedicate it to a tree growing can be very difficult to achieve.
(b) Lack of Identity of Interests
Few communities have a genuine identity of interests among all their members. Practical experience has shown that, this can cause a number of severe problems with community programmes, where communities are rigidly stratified along social, economic (or) religious lines, the barriers to communal action can be partially difficult to overcome.