The many uses
Bamboo has been utilised traditionally in construction of houses and as a handicraft material. It has been the main livelihood for the rural people living near bamboo habitats. This craft has a long history but is on the decline for many reasons and needs to be revived.
A mature bamboo culm has flexible wood with a density comparable to that of high value timber. Its straightness, lightness, strength, hardness, and easy workability, are ideal for a variety of technological purposes. During the Second World War, “plybamboo” was produced in China for aircraft material.
Since then technological improvements have resulted in the development of various types of processed bamboo products that last long and are strong enough to be substituted for timber.
Bamboo mats which are prepared by weaving culm strips are glued together to produce bamboo mat boards. Bamboo veneers are peeled by machine from large culms about 3-4 m long that have been pretreated in boiling water. Bamboo sheets are also produced by breaking and widening the large culms after hot-water treatment and glued together to form boards in the same way as plywood. Bamboo boards can be used in making furniture, floors, walls, doors, ceil- ings, etc. Particle boards are manufactured from bamboo chips. Processed bamboo products are increasingly in demand as the trend in most developed countries is the use of natural rather than synthetic products.
Even entire houses can be constructed using processed bamboo. Low cost bamboo houses as well as costly innovative buildings designed by renowned architects such as Simon Valez are much in much demand. Houses that are light and strong and are able to withstand earthquakes are also constructed in earthquake prone areas.
Bamboo is used in many ways. Its earliest use on an industrial scale is in the manufacture of paper pulp which is still carried out in India and China mostly. Species with long fibre and higher cellulose to lignin content are suitable for this purpose and also for use in making rayon.
Bamboo supplies 10% of the world’s paper pulp. The cost per metric ton of paper is over US$ 700/. It can be estimated that a plantation of giant bamboo ( Dendrocalamusgiganteus) with 200 bamboo clumps per hectare can give an annual yield of about 2000 poles with a biomass of as much as 50 metric tons of bamboo for manufacture of paper pulp. Fifty metric tons of bamboo can yield 20 metric tons of paper pulp which at a cost of US $ 700/ give a potential income of US $ 14000/ per hectare per year.The sale of poles alone at the rate of SLR.200/ per pole could give a potential income of SLR 400,000/ per hectare. Thus farming bamboo will be an income generator contributing to alleviation of poverty.
Bamboo shoots are a nutritious vegetable. Export of canned bamboo shoots is a thriving industry in Indonesia and Thailand. Species suitable for edible shoot production ( Dendrocalaumusasper, D. latiflorus) are grown on plantation scale. Such plantations provide both edible shoots and mature poles for construction and generate an income of over US $ 50 million per year.
Bamboo charcoal and activated carbon are also in high demand. Manufacture of bamboo charcoal is a cottage industry in some parts of Africa.
These are only some of the ways in which bamboo is utilized and shows its enormous potential. Its cultivation and utilisation can give rise to livelihood development and productive employment leading to eradication of extreme poverty. A variety of new export commodities can be produced and help in the economic development of the country.