National Bamboo Mission
Green gold gets shine back with bamboo mission: New Delhi, Apr 20: Commercial cultivation of the “green gold”—bamboo—and production of modern value-added products are gradually gaining momentum under the aegis of the National Bamboo Mission (NBM) which was set up a year ago. Eight states of northeastern India and four other states, namely, Orissa, West Bengal , Bihar and Jharkhand have already followed the suit by initiating bamboo development programmes at their end. Arunachal Pradesh has set up its bamboo development agency and its bamboo mission for conservation of genetic resources. Two bamboo-based units have been set up—one at Namsal for producing structural material and another at Chowkham for producing bamboo mats. A certification laboratory for seed and vegetative planting material is likely to be set up by the state forest research institute, while nurseries are set up at places. In Assam , NBM has planned value-addition projects at Kamrup, Tinsukia, Sonitpur, Silchar, while...