Bamboo for land restoration and income generation

by Shantha Ramanayake

Bamboo is identified as a high priority crop for fast re-vegetating of bare lands because of its ability to grow in degraded soils and steep slopes where other plants do not successfully grow. It grows rapidly with minimum inputs and is endowed with an extensive underground network of rhizomes and roots that bind soil and store water. In addition to reclamation of degraded land, there is an added benefit as a commodity with high potential for income generation as the global bamboo market stands at over US $ 72 million and is expected to rise further.

Land degradation: Land degradation is an issue faced by many countries all over the world and has serious adverse effects on the environment and food security. It is a result of loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and depletion, soil pollution, water shortage and other factors. Land degradation is mainly induced by human activities apart from natural causes more prevalent now due to climate change. Agricultural and plantation soils have been continuously cultivated over many years focusing on increasing harvests without much concern on soil conservation and health. This has led to soil infertility and loss of production threatening food security. In addition, extensive areas of forests have been cleared with no regard to the environment. Such practices that bring about short term benefits have long term costs. According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) latest review (May 2021), 169 countries are affected by land degradation or drought and the average loss in production is reported to be about nine percent of the GDP. The worst affected are the central African countries where the total loss of production is estimated as a staggering 40 percent of the GDP. It would cost over 4.5 trillion dollars to take action now to halt this alarming trend. Thus there is much concern globally to rehabilitate degraded soils.

Sri Lanka is no exception. Although the country is endowed with natural resources which have sustained its people over a long period, these resources have deteriorated at an exponential rate over the last century. About 0.5% of forest land was converted to other land use types from 2000 to date. The plantation sector is affected considerably and some plantations have been abandoned. The productivity of 34% of the land area of the island is either declining or under stress and has led to increased poverty. The Government of Sri Lanka is a signatory to the UNCCD commitment to sustainable development goals and thus has a responsibility in preventing further land deterioration and is committed to restore degraded land.

Bamboo for land restoration: Among many other trees and crops identified for land restoration, a recently identified high priority crop is bamboo. Although the uses of bamboo are now well-known, information about success or failure in using bamboo for landscape restoration is limited. However, case studies in many countries show its feasibility.

Bamboo has been selected for fast re-vegetating bare land because of its ability with minimum inputs to grow in degraded soils and steep slopes where other plants fail to grow; it is also endowed with an extensive underground network of rhizomes and roots that bind soil and store water. This underground network is reported to extend up to 100 km per hectare in a bamboo plantation and grow to a depth of 60 cm and last many years. Even if the above ground biomass is destroyed the rhizome is able to regenerate fast.

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth and a new culm emerging from the rhizome may grow up to one meter a day! For this reason bamboo can remove toxins and excess nitrogen from polluted soils and water ways fast. Bamboo sheds leaves during dry weather to conserve water and the leaf litter adds to soil carbon. Once a bamboo stand is established, surface run off during rains is minimized and water is stored in the soil and within the plant. Thus bamboo is able to re-vegetate and restore the productivity of unproductive land over a short period of time. Depending on the species, harvesting bamboo poles is possible three to six years after establishment and annually thereafter. Sustainable harvesting encourages fast growth in the following years. Most importantly the bamboo thus generated has an additional benefit as a commodity of high economic value.

Some case studies of land restoration by bamboo and recommendation to local situations: Bamboo planting programs need to be planned scientifically with due consideration for site – species matching, planting density, planting season etc. and management practices. Although much data is not available covering all these aspects, past experiences elsewhere could be considered.

A “Policy synthesis report, ‘Bamboo for Land Restoration’, FAO, INBAR, 2018” reported a few cases. A severely degraded land abandoned after brickmaking in Allahabad India, recovered remarkably after planting with bamboo. After 20 years the water table rose by 10 meters and it was possible to incorporate trees and other crops into this land as soil was enriched with 6-8 inches of humus by bamboo each year. Thus the farmers’ income increased. An added benefit was that they were able to get an additional income by selling bamboo poles to new industries that emerged in the vicinity. As a result of this success the project was scaled up to cover 100,000 hectares of degraded land in 600 villages in India.

In Chishui China bamboo plantations had 25 percent less water run off than an adjacent sweet potato farm and the bamboo plantation reduced soil erosion by 80%. A study in Ghana showed that Bambusa balcoa did not survive in an area with very low rainfall whereas Oxytenanthera abyssinica, a local species did better. In Colombia, planting Guadua bamboo reduced the compactness of soil making it more porous and improved water regulation and nutrient recycling. The farmers were able to increase their income by exploiting bamboo. In Nepal bamboo planting helped to reduce soil erosion and flood damage.

Considering our tea lands, over 150 years of tea cultivation has heavily degraded the soils and there is serious concern about a continuous decline of tea yields. Much of these lands will have to undergo long term rehabilitation with planting of perennial trees. Bamboo is ideal in this regard. There are many more abandoned and degraded lands as well as river and stream banks, boundaries of garbage dumps etc. which can be used to plant bamboo.

In order to succeed, the Government must take an interest and elevate the status of bamboo to a plantation crop with environmental, social and economic returns. Subsidies and supportive regulations will influence local participation to take the bamboo sector forward.

Benefits in planting bamboo: Woody bamboos are a valuable resource that can yield high socio-economic returns and environmental benefits. This is evident considering the global bamboo market which was valued at US$ 72 billion in 2019 and expected to rise at the rate of 5.5%. Bamboo has diverse applications but the rapid rise in bamboo industry was with the rediscovery of bamboo as a timber substitute minimizing the demand for valuable timber and pressure on forest resources. The bamboo industry is expected to rise continuously as the demand for sustainable green products are high.

Bamboo is utilized diversely ranging from high to medium and low technology applications. It is used in making timber substitutes such as bamboo paneling, mat board, plywood, veneer, strand woven bamboo, MDF board etc. These are used in making furniture and in buildings as flooring, paneling and even roofing. Manufacture of bamboo paper pulp can be carried out at a high tech industrial level and also as a cottage industry as happens in China. This is the oldest industrial application of bamboo which was started in India and China. Bamboo fibre in textile manufacture is a high tech industry. Canning of edible bamboo shoots has potential. Medium level industrial applications include manufacture of activated charcoal, biochar, bamboo mats, blinds, incense stick etc. while low level technologies include making handicrafts, charcoal and wood chips for use as fuel.

The situation in Sri Lanka: The first viable concept paper for establishing a bamboo industry in Sri Lanka was approved in 1992 and this was formulated after the tissue culture technique of mass propagating giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus) was developed by original research in the Institute of Fundamental Studies in Kandy. Its downstream application was the outcome of the Riverine Bamboo Project. This is presently under the purview of the Mahaweli Authority. The activities of the project were to initially establish a tissue culture laboratory and mass produce giant bamboo to be planted along the Mahweli and its tributaries with the objective of stabilizing the river bank and later to use the bamboo resource in industrial applications especially to make paper pulp.

The Mahaweli Authority claims that they have planted one million bamboo plants in riverbanks and catchment areas. It is reported that about 5,000 Ha of bamboo exist in Mahaweli catchment areas and forest reserves. Private sector has also established some bamboo but its extent not known. The tissue culture lab can mass produce planting stocks of valuable species of bamboo including Dendrocalamus hookeri, D. giganteus, D. asper, Bambusa vulgaris, B. ventricosa and others to supply palnting programmes.

The Industrial Technology Institute has carried out studies and developed the process of canning edible bamboo shoots and producing bamboo charcoal. This is the organization representing Sri Lanka in the International Network of Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR).

The UNIDO also had a bamboo project locally to promote the bamboo industry in making timber substitutes and identification of land for bamboo cultivation together with the Ministry of Industrial Development. They have established a Training Centre now under the Industrial Development Board.

The National Crafts Council promotes handicrafts and cottage industry has a training centre in Kuruwita.

Local market from available resources is limited to the following:

a. Blinds -for local and export markets

b. Handicraft – ships, pencil holders, vases, lamp sheds, tablemats

c. Incense sticks – machine made

d. Basket-ware, mats, furniture

e. Fresh edible shoots

f. Ornamental bamboo plants nurseries

g. Raw material: bamboo pole for construction/agriculture/ fisheries

h. Charcoal

Overall, the value of bamboo related product imports to Sri Lanka, grew by 40% from USD 0.5 Mn. in 2011 to USD 2 Mn. in 2015. Bamboo flooring accounted for nearly 60% of the total trade value of bamboo related imports in 2015.

The imported bamboo material/products are:

a. Flooring – imported, as a substitute for wood flooring

b. Yarn – imported from China for textile industry

c. Wood based panels – plywood, particle boards

d. Charcoal – export market is being developed

e. Canned edible shoots

f. Incense sticks – imported mostly from India, now banned

g. Bamboo sticks from China and Vietnam, importations, banned and relaxed

h. Many other home utility items – furniture, bamboo straws, ornaments,

Most of the imports could be produced in Sri Lanka, if the raw material and technology is available. The bamboo plantations should obtain Forest Stewardship Council certification (FSC) if they intend to export. With many countries establishing bamboo plantations, there is a demand to export bamboo tissue culture plants of ornamental or utility value. We have the potential of turning out bamboo charcoal on a sustainable basis to replace wood consumption and prevent deforestation.

Bamboo still remains an untapped avenue for economic growth in Sri Lanka although there are entrepreneurs showing interest. It is regretted that this country unlike many of her neighbors has hitherto hardly devoted attention to exploit the vast potential of bamboo. Government support is essential.

The Lanka Network of Bamboo and Rattan (SRINBAR) initiated in 2005 is now in the process of promoting cultivation of bamboo to cater to developing new industries and to network entrepreneurs involved or hoping to get involved in various aspects of bamboo. We are committed to taking the bamboo sector forward and hope many more will join us in this endeavor.

(The writer is a scientist who did research on many aspects of bamboo while working as a senior scientist in the National Institute of Fundamental Studies, Kandy, as the project leader of the Plant Biotechnology Project. Now retired she is involved as a consultant in plant tissue culture including bamboo. She’s also on the Advisory Committee of the Lanka Network of Bamboo and Rattan (SRINBAR) of which she’s a founder member.)