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Amit Mitra

VISAKHAPATNAM, Aug. 16

THE Andhra Pradesh Government is planning to tap its bamboo resources in a big way in the light of the increasing market potential for bamboo products.

With bamboo occupying a significant place in the bio-resources of the forests of Andhra Pradesh, especially in the districts of Adilabad, Khamam, Mahboobnagar, East Godavari, West Godavari and Visakhapatnam, the State Government feels that tapping this resource could significantly shore up the State's economy.

The country has a large resource base of bamboo, the fastest growing species of plants with over 130 variants typically harvested within three years of sprouting. Even at the national level, experts say that bamboo-based value-added products could find major markets overseas. With the Chinese trade in this sector estimated to be of the order of Rs. 17,000 crore, experts feel that a business volume of Rs 1,200 crore could be generated in the country through value-added bamboo products.

It is against this background that the Government has launched the National Mission on Bamboo Applications, through the Department of Science and Technology, to cash in on the bamboo resources.

The growing stock available in the country is estimated at over 80 million tonnes, with two-thirds of it being in the North-East. The proposed bamboo-based value-added products include wood substitutes such as laminates, flooring, bamboo mat board, bamboo ply and veneer, building and construction materials and industrial applications such as acoustic and thermal insulation, truck bodies and interior decorations.

In Andhra Pradesh, bamboo is estimated to be occurring in an area of over 9,882 sq km, out of its total notified forest area of 63,814 sq km. The total growing stock of bamboo in the State is estimated to be 38 lakh tonnes — a little over two lakh tonnes of this is removed annually, out of which one lakh tonnes is supplied to the paper industry and the remaining to the domestic sector and `burhood societies' (professional bamboo workers).

The three paper mills that use bamboo are Andhra Paper Mills, Sirpur Paper Mills and Bhadrachalam Paper Boards, with installed capacities of 1.01 lakh tonnes per annum (tpa), 71,000 tpa and 81,944 tpa respectively.

According to a senior official of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, plantation activities taken up by the department and the Forest Development Corporation have helped in expanding the resource base, besides generating employment.

Also, under the World Bank-aided forestry project, 70,536 hectares of land is being treated for improving bamboo stocking, which include soil moisture conservation works, moulding at the base of clumps and enriched plantations. "The Forest Department has already initiated steps for extraction in an area of 6,000 hectares,'' the official said.

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