Understanding Bamboo Sector for Income Generation, Employment Opportunity and Sustainable Development of the North-East India

Out of the 1,500 bamboo species occurring worldwide, India has around 130 bamboo species belonging to 23 genera, in which more than 50% of the Indian bamboo resource is confined to North-East. As many as 78 bamboo species (both indigenous and exotic) belonging to 19 genera have been reported from this region. Bamboo plays an important role in the socio-economy of tribal populace of the region. Most of the bamboo species available in the region are used for house construction, making fences around crop fields, and for making household articles, furniture etc. Existing four paper mills and other bamboo-based large scale industries of the region are the largest consumers of bamboo resource of the region. Newly emerging bamboo shoots and their processed forms are consumed as vegetables and food additives. Survey of the edible bamboo species in North East region revealed a total of 16 edible species among which 12 of them were highly commercial from edible point of view. Annual sales of fresh bamboo shoots were recorded to the tune of ca. 5,685 tonnes with a gross and net income of ca. Rs. 37.76 million and Rs. 18.85 million per annum, respectively. The sales of fermented, roasted and boiled bamboo shoots were observed to the tune of ca. 680 tonnes/ yr with a gross and net income of Rs. 40.38 million and Rs. 22.90 rupees, respectively. Thus, by merchandizing only fresh and processed bamboo shoots for edible purpose in this region, this sector have generated employment opportunity which may employ approximately 3,285 persons throughout the year @ Rs. 100 per day.