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Language: English
From the preface:
"After battling out the confusion of classification, bamboos are, today, legally considered as ‘forest produce’. There are about 135 different species of these woody grasses in India and a baffling 1 500-odd uses listed against their names. It is not without reason they are the ‘poor man’s timber’ and ‘green gold’. Their role in conserving the rich biodiversity of tropical nations and in supporting the ecology of forest ecosystems is admirable. They not only regulate water movement in the forests and prevent soil loss, but also serve as an important source of food for elephant populations, a top herbivore. From another perspective, bamboos are clearly interwoven with lives of native forest dwellers. In many regions of India, especially north-east, forest dwellers depend on bamboos for constructing houses and fencing, for making utility items like baskets and winnows, for food, for making toys and tools, and for their financial sustenance. Today, bamboos have reached the urban dweller, even extended to luxury resorts where it is fashionable to live in bamboo huts with all its paraphernalia made of bamboos. Be it as a symbol of luck in Feng shui, an ornament in a garden, or to listen to the soothing notes emanating from a flute, bamboo has rapidly caught the imagination of the entire human society. Today, industrial products, especially bamboo composites have created fashionable, yet eco-friendly products. Bamboo flooring, plywood, laminate, modern furniture and similar applications are a reality.
What makes bamboos such a versatile material? Can its applications be extended further? How could bamboos be utilized for mitigating the effects of climate change? These are some of the important questions that need to be answered. Against this background, the National Seminar on "Recent Advances in Bamboo Propagation, Utilization and Management" organized by the Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bangalore during 17-18th Feb. 2011. This Seminar was sponsored by the National Bamboo Mission, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
This book includes 34 peer reviewed paper presented during the Seminar focusing on wide range of topics dealing with the state of the art in propagating, managing and utilizing this important bioresource. We hope that this book will serve as a useful text reference for researchers and students engaged in pursuit of bamboo research and development."
