VIJAYAWADA: High consumption of carbon dioxide and high release of oxygen and ability to make soil fertile are the unique advantages of bamboo and its usages are well known and well documented from ages. As it was a wild plant under the forest department, its cultivation was not possible in the State.
However, the situation has changed now with both Central and State governments encouraging cultivation of bamboo. Andhra Pradesh has recently made horticulture department as the anchoring department instead of forest department, thus allowing people to cultivate bamboo legally. After the cabinet gave its approval, an order was issued. Horticulture commissioner will be the mission director for the State Bamboo Mission.
Further, under the National Bamboo Mission, bamboo farmers can get 60 per cent subsidy. Andhra Pradesh State Agriculture Mission (APSAM) took the initiative to have bamboo brought under horticulture so the farmers can cultivate it as an alternative crop in part of their lands to augment their income.
Speaking to TNIE, APSAM vice-chairman MVS Nagi Reddy explained that there are several crops cultivated in the state and some of them like paddy are cultivated excessively, which will only be counterproductive to the farmers. “We have been studying alternatives, especially in the regions under borewells. Millets, pulses and horticulture crops are being encouraged. As part of our study, we found bamboo to be a good alternative,” he said.
Alternative does not mean replacing the entire crop (whatever it might be) with bamboo, but to cultivate it in some extent of the land, he clarified. Farmers were unable to cultivate bamboo when it was under the forest department. It is now brought under the horticulture department, he added.
Bamboo takes four years for cultivation sans any returns, but thereafter it provides a steady annual income for 90 years. One sapling of bamboo generates shoots every time growing on its own after initial care. “That does not mean that we cultivate for some time and leave it. We have to take care of it like any other crop, for better yield,” Nagi Reddy said and added that as it is a water-intensive crop, it is not suitable for semi-arid regions.
When asked if there is a market for bamboo, the APSAM vice-chairman said there is a wide increasing market. “We have a community called Medara (bamboo weavers) who eke out a living by making bamboo products. Bamboo was always an integral part of our life and culture. It is used for fencing crops, more so as a support guard for banana plants, for feed and catch baskets for aquaculture, used for various rituals in daily life and even for making Agarbatti (incense) sticks,” he explained.
As no bamboo is cultivated in the state, it is imported from Assam and other north eastern states. On an average, 150 to 200 truck loads of bamboo arrive AP from those states. A 18-feet long bamboo costs around Rs 90 to Rs 100. At present, a few farmers have taken up cultivation of bamboo on an experimental basis and results are expected in a year or two.
Plan B for farmers to augment revenue
After four years, it gives a steady annual income for 90 years
Under the National Bamboo Mission, farmers can get 60 per cent subsidy