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| Sunday, 1 August 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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New life for poor man's timber By Kaminie Jayanthi Liyanage
A mysterious occurence in bamboo is the way some bamboo species flower at the same time all over the world, after a long period of vegetative growth. This phenomenon is called "gregarious flowering". For example, Phyliostachys bambusoides flowered in 1970s and has done so every 120 years, according to internationally recorded bamboo history. No one knows what triggers this universal flowering as no one has fully understood the biological rhythm of bamboo. Rare occurence Even the flowering of bamboo is a rare occurence which happens in about 80-90 years. Another enigmatic happening seen in some bamboo species is that when they flower, the entire species flower and then, all the plants die. Eg. the flowering of Dendrocalamous cactus observed in India. Shantha Ramanayake, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Fundamental Studies, and Director, Riverine Bamboo Project, remarks on the clump of Giant Bamboos seen in the Botanical Gardens of Peradeniya, "They have been growing a long time. It's high time they flowered!" You may think that no tree can beat the multi-functionality of coconut and jak. But a new player to the multi-purpose game, an unobtrusive presence in the scene for some time, has begun to reveal capabilities to the tune of overriding these two - at least in certain aspects.
This player is the blue-green "Giant Bamboo" (yodha una), or Dendracalamous giganteus, as is it scientifically known, or "the poor man's timber" as it had been known in rural circles. Bamboo growers and agriculture scientists across the world have recognised a variety of uses in which these "giant grasses" could be employed. The chief of these is the industrial usage in turning out high quality pulp for the paper industry. Bamboo timber can also be flattened to make water planks, or split into thin strips and weaved into mats to be used as corrugated roofing for housing, as is demonstrated by bamboo-based building systems in India. In fact, the "Grow your own House" campaigns of UK-based TRADA Technology is to show how an entire house of affordable cost can be constructed from bamboo and bamboo composites. Productive plant "One of the most productive plants on earth," is the preamble for Giant Bamboo, coming from Dr. U.P. de S. Waidyanatha, President, Bamboo Association of Sri Lanka and Director-General, Agri Business Council. An article written recently by Dr. Vaidyanatha, of its many uses had generated a flow of over 300 responses from growers, enthusiasts and industrial users of bamboo, most of whom are now in the Association. "It has very high bio mass, reaches over 40 feet, weighs more than 50 Kg, has over 200 clumps in a hectare, can be grown anywhere upto an elevation of 4,000 ft. and be harvested in ten years," is the observation of Shantha Ramanayake, who has done basic research at this Institute to develop a protocol for propagating five varieties of bamboo through laboratory tissue culture. Since Giant bamboo rarely produces seeds, it cannot be propagated in the conventional nature's method and a precedence has been taken from the produce of tissue culture plants, carried out in the laboratories of India, and distributed to growers. "India already has nine million hectares of natural bamboo and a National Mission on Bamboo Applications, going ahead with a large project worth of Rs. Thousand Million," says Dr. Vaidyanatha. But this Riverine Bamboo Project, foreseen by its initiator, Dr. A. Kovoor, Science Adviser for the President, to cultivate massive areas of Giant Bamboo along Mahaweli banks for industrial usage, while also preventing soil erosion and bank collapse by its large rhyzomes binding soil, is now pending functionality, until the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka reactivates the project. "One hectare of bamboo grown in the correct manner, either on river banks, or even on a plantation, can produce 50 tons of bamboo per hectare per year," predicts Dr. Vaidyanatha. "Even if you cost it at Rs.2 per kilo of 10-15 ft lengths, you will get an income of Rs. 100,000 at the very minimal input. Bamboo can replace grass which is grown for rehabilitating tea land and within 3-4 years, it can rotate back to tea." Replaces grass The project had developed in the late 1990s when Dr. Cyril Ponnamperuma headed IFS, with an allocation of Rs. 40m inclusive of funds to build a tissue culture laboratory, its site being identified at Gannoruwa, Peradeniya. The project director and a steering committee had been appointed. Equipment inclusive of tissue culture chambers, costing Rs.17-18m had been bought. The project came under the purview of the Mahaweli Authority under the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Management. "When the project did not move, Ms. Ramanayake asked for my help and I spoke to the then Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, and to Deshamanya Lalith Kotalawala to get the involvement of the private sector," said Dr. Vaidyanatha. "We had two meetings with the Minister and he felt that this bamboo could be grown through natural means. But as we are talking about millions of plants, unlike the yellow bamboo which is easily propagated in Sri Lanka, Giant Bamboo needed tissue culture for mass propagation. Since the Forest Department too had done some work with bamboo, I contacted the then Minister of Environment Rukman Senanayake and brought the two ministers together." The go-ahead signal had been given, with a building being constructed in Mawatura, Kotmale. The Ministry of Irrigation was to provide an initial cost of Rs.1.5 M, with the balance coming from the Ministry of Environment. "There was refurbishing and some of the equipment were moved in, but we had no money to run the place. Ms. Ramanayake who was to head the tissue culture plant production, did not have chemicals and manpower. Then the government changed, and now, for over a year, the equipment is lying in a warehouse in Pallekele." But, the current lull is about to end as the President has now requested the Mahaweli Ministry to reactivate the project. "Equally important is an institutional mechanism to research and develop bamboo and rattan based products in Sri Lanka," emphasises Dr. Vaidyanatha, linking the similarities of the already prevalent rattan industry to bamboo. Seminar He hopes to conduct a seminar to the interested persons, to generate awareness on the many uses of bamboo. The last World Congress of Bamboo in India had been represented by 30 countries and "Sri Lanka had been the least represented." Productive use of bamboo is being made in Thailand, India, Indonesia, China and Japan, including canned edible bamboo shoots, flooring, roof sheeting and construction scaffolding. Predominant is the paper pulp industry in China and India. "Currently, Chinese bamboo farms are being depleted and this creates a potential export market of bamboo for us. Sustainable There is demand for paper pulp in Canada and several other countries where pine farms are being depleted," points out Ms. Ramanayake. "Our project envisages tissue culturing 100,000 plants in the first year, 200,000 in the second year and 500,000 in the final year, and distributing to industrial growers. Bamboo is sustainable as it regenerates itself without having to cut and replant." A number of private companies have shown interest in growing yellow and giant bamboo for export as ornamental plants. Prof. Kirthi Tennekoon, Chairman, IFS, says that research carried out at IFS is published in international journals, earning wide recognition. IFS was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1984, with the subsequent installation of laboratories. Both the President and the Prime Minister are in its Board of Governance. Courtesy: Institute of Fundamental Studies |
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