Diversity of Bamboo Species and its Utilization in the North-Eastern Region of India

Abstract

Bamboos are distributed throughout the Himalayas with a variety of different genera adapted to different ecological zones. At the eastern end of the Himalayas heavy monsoon rains coupled with low level of evapo-transpiration during the pre and post monsoonal periods lead to minimal water stress, thus providing conditions that are well suited to bamboo growth. Geographical location and physiographical features contribute to bamboo diversity and its distribution in the different bio-climatic zones of the region. This paper presents a general survey of the diversity of bamboo species and its utilisation in the northeastern region of India. About 125 bamboo plant species belonging to 23 genera occur in India (Tewari, 1992; Varmah and Bahadur 1980). Similarly, about 78 species belonging to 19 genera occur only in northeastern region itself (Biswas, 1988; Hore, 1998). The regions accounts to about 50 percent of bamboo species of the total species in India. This region can be referred as the centre and genetic diversity for the genera, Arundinaria, Bambusa, Cephalostachyum and Dendrocalamus. The variety of interpretation of structural forms of different bamboo species results in a utilisation pattern that has geographical and cultural implications. Yang et al. (2004) reveals that traditional bamboo uses are very important for the cultural diversity of the ethnic minorities. Their lives are closely related with bamboo having a strong influence on their history, art, handicrafts, music, religion, customs, architecture, and agricultural production. There is an increasing importance of studying diverse utilisation of bamboo in different cultures and geographic regions. Such differentiation in its utilisation forms an interesting and important study to discover the interrelationship between geographic and cultural forces and the biodiversity of bamboo species. Out of the 78 species and 23 genera prevalent in the northeastern region of India, 6 species belonging to 2 genera namely, Bambusa balcooa, B. tulda, B. vulgaris, Dendrocalamus giganteus, D.hamiltonii and D. strictus have been found to be most widely used in the region. The most commonly used species in all the northeastern states of India has been observed to be D.hamiltonii.