Business   

Plan to promote bamboo products

— PHOTO: Vipin Chandran

TRADITIONAL FETE: A stall at the Kerala Bamboo Fest, which began on Thursday at the Ernakulam Town Hall.

KOCHI: A variety of traditional as well as innovative products, on display at the Kerala Bamboo Fest 2007, is drawing a good number of visitors. Kerala is one of the major diversity centres for bamboo species. The State accounts for about 19 per cent of the total bamboo distributed in India.

The traditional bamboo sector had lapsed into relative oblivion as a result of the onslaught of synthetic substitutes. But a renewed interest in eco-friendly products has revitalised the efforts of the traditional sector in the State.

It is estimated that 3,00,000 people depend on bamboo for their livelihood. Mat production out of reed is one of the basic industrial activities in the sector.

As part of the government’s steps to support to the sector, the Kerala State Bamboo Corporation (KSBC) was set up in 1971. The corporation was entrusted with the task of ensuring a steady supply of raw material to the artisans and reeds to cooperative societies and traditional users.

The corporation has about 25,000 registered weavers. Of these, 60 per cent are women. KSBC has also put up a unit for the manufacture of bamboo ply, a product manufactured from woven bamboo mats of finer variety. The Kerala Forest Department and the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) have also contributed to the efforts for sustaining the bamboo sector. India has already launched a 15-year plan to promote bamboo-based industry. Around 3 lakh tonnes of bamboo and allied produce are cut annually in Kerala, according to official accounts. Considering the scope for developing bamboo as a raw material for the traditional handicraft sector as well as for modern industry, special programmes were developed for the revitalisation of the sector in the State. The State Bamboo Mission was constituted in 2003 with the aim of marshalling the scattered resources of the State and adopting a focussed approach to revitalise the sector.

The focussed interventions include promoting cultivation of bamboo, creation of new design of innovative products in the handicrafts sector along with appropriate skill development, promotion of bamboo based modern industries supported by technology adaptation and development. It is expected that these measures will help create greater employment opportunities at various levels, especially among women, and improve the living standards of rural people.

The show will be on till December 9.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Mukesh Ambani wins business leader award
Bajaj launches fuel efficient autorickshaw
IBM expects $1 b revenue in India
Plan to promote bamboo products
Vodafone’s offer for Sabarimala pilgrims
Demat facility at UAE Exchange
German help for Indian start-ups
Nalco to sign agreement with Indonesian Government
China to raise bank reserve ratio requirement to 14.5 p.c.

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu