Biology and Silviculture of Muli Bamboo Melocanna baccifera

About this book

Language: English

From the preface:

"Melocanna baccifera plays an important socio-economic role in the livelihoods of millions of families in the Indian subcontinent. This species alone covers almost 70 to 95 per cent of bamboo forests in the hills of northeast India, Sylhet, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Arakans (Mynmar), where it grows naturally and has been valued as the life blood of local indigenous people. About 150 million people of this region including both tribal and non tribal (mainly Bengalis in north eastern part of Bangladesh, Tripura, Lower Assam and north of West Bengal) have been depending on this bamboo species for their housing, fencing, matting, basketries, making agricultural implements, etc. including harvesting the shoots for food. Within recent decades, intensive biotic interference due to increasing population pressure and urbanization, including road, dam and building construction has razed many hills and fragmented populations. Furthermore, gregarious flowering has led to wide spread mortality of the bamboo.

I have been fortunate to be able to work in the forests of the eastern part of the sub-continent where I have observed M. baccifera closely in its natural habitat. Here I attempt to bring all the knowledge that I have garnered together from my studies and various sources into this single monograph. I believe, this monograph will be interesting and useful to researchers, foresters, farmers, environmentalists, bamboo lovers, and bamboo based Industries in the Sub Continent."

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