“WHAT would a poor man do without bamboo? Independently of its use as food, it provides him with the thatch that covers his house, the mat on which he sleeps, the cup from which he drinks and the chopsticks with which he eats. He irrigates his field by means of a bamboo pipe; he gathers his harvest with a bamboo rake; he sifts his grain through a bamboo sieve and carries it away in bamboo baskets…”
This observation of a Victorian traveler a century ago still holds true today in the rural areas of most Asian countries, including the Philippines.
Bamboo has been on earth for millions of years. Unknown to many, bamboo is not a tree but a grass. It is a perennial grass belonging to the family “Gramineae.” It is considered near-relatives of rice, corn, wheat, oats, and barley. There are 75 genera and over 1,250 species in the tropical, sub-tropical and mild temperate regions of the world. In the Philippines, there are 12 bamboo genera consisting of 49 species.
Not all bamboo species grown in the country are economically important, however. Only eight so-called erect species are extensively used: “kauayan-tinik,” “kauayan-kiling,” “bayog,” “botong,” giant bamboo, “bolo,” “anos,” and “buho.”
“Once considered as the poor man’s timber, bamboo is now utilized not only for construction purposes but for food, furniture and handicrafts, medicine, fuel and clothing,” said a primer circulated during the 2018 National Science and Technology Week in Davao City recently.
The primer cited several desirable features of bamboo: light and sturdy; easily worked with hand tools or machines; can be used in round, split/slat, strip, veneer, laminated, crushed, or fiber form; and different species have different properties that make it suitable for specific end products.
Bamboo, in its natural form as a construction material, is traditionally associated with the cultures of South Asia, East Asia and the South Pacific and to some extent in Central and South America. In the Philippines, the “nipa” hut is a fairly typical example of the most basic sort of housing where bamboois used; the walls are split and woven bamboo, and bamboo slats and poles may be used as its support.
The young bamboo shoots are a good source of vitamins and minerals. They are made into pickles, fresh “lumpia,” or simply cooked with coconut. Nutritionists claim that bamboo shoot is low in carbohydrates and crude fat, and it has plenty of crude fiber, making it an ideal vegetable for people who want to reduce. Its main nutritive value is associated with “hematopoiesis” or the regeneration of high energy containing compounds and improvement of protein metabolism. Eighteen amino acids are reportedly present in bamboo shoot.
“The grass of hope” is how some economic experts are calling bamboo. The reason: there’s money in bamboos. Farmers in Iloilo have undergone training on bamboo production after knowing of its high return on investment and quicker payback compared to other long-gestating crops.
“Bamboo is considered to be the best conservation material because of its low maintenance compared to other plantations aside from the fact that there is a high return on investment and faster payback in bamboo,” explained Dr. Henry A. Adornado, executive director of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB).
Based on studied plantations in Central America, the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Monitor placed bamboo’s return on investment at 26%.
Planting bamboo is environment-friendly. It can help address the problem of climate change. Some studies showed that bamboo plants can sequester 12 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare per year.
Not only that. Bamboo is an effective tool in addressing soil erosion, landslides, and flooding. Its anti-erosion properties can create an effective watershed, stitching the soil together along fragile riverbanks, deforested areas and in places prone to earthquakes and mudslides. The sum of stem flow rate and canopy intercept of bamboo is 25%, so it greatly reduces rain runoff and thus prevents massive soil erosion.
However, the bamboo business is labor intensive, more so during the first two years of operation. Studies have shown that labor alone eats around 90% of the total production cost. But the beauty of bamboo growing lies in passing the first two critical growing years.
Most species of bamboo mature three to four years after initial shoot development. Mature culms become light green or yellow in color in contrast with greener, younger culms that have leaf sheaths still attached to nodes.
Bamboo shoots emerge during the wet or rainy season. About 7-17 days after emergence, they may be harvested for food. The shoots are harvested using a sharp bolo or hatchet. To harvest shoots of species with spiny thickets at the base, a sharp crowbar may be used. In each year, an average of 6.7 shoots emerges per clump.
“Bamboo farming could become a key component of the government’s rural development programs,” says the ERDB. “It favors the development of small landholdings and its use of intensive labor could alleviate the unemployment problem.”
There are two commercial methods of propagating bamboo: branch marcotting and stem cutting. In branch marcotting, bamboo is induced to root at the nodes while the culm or pole stays planted in the ground.
In stem cutting, the culms are cut horizontally in several sections and then planted in the nursery. They can be transplanted when they mature.
Bamboo is, indeed, a versatile crop. “It is believed that if bamboo were planted on a massive scale, it could completely reverse the effects of global warming in just 5-6 years, and provide a renewable source of food, building materials, and other things.”
