May 27, 2024: There is a need to promote bamboo-based rural enterprises to generate employment in villages, stated Dr. Anil Kakodkar, former Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission of India and presently, Trustee of BAIF Development Research Foundation and Chairman, Rajiv Gandhi Science and Technology Commission (RGSTC), Government of Maharashtra. Dr. Kakodkar was delivering the Keynote Address at the Round Table meeting on “Bamboo for a Green Economy: Pathways and Technologies for Bamboo Usage” organised by RGSTC in collaboration with BAIF and Maharashtra Bamboo Promotion Foundation in Pune. There is also a need to bridge the gap between industrial demand and actual production of bamboo and for innovative technological adoption by farmers, artisans and industries, Dr. Kakodkar added.
Dr. Bharat Kakade, President and Managing Trustee, BAIF stated that with its footprint in 100,000 villages of 15 states of India and reaching out to 40 lakh families in 337 districts, BAIF has been engaged in bamboo germplasm conservation, standardisation as well as establishment as one of the border crops under the agro-horti-forestry (wadi) programme, promotion of bamboo-based polyhouses in Himalayan terrain sustaining harsh climate and high wind velocity, for onion storage and for reinforcement of water tanks. There is scope for villagers to earn income from carbon credits, he added. Dr. Narendra Shah, Member Secretary, RGSTC, highlighted the strategies adopted by RGSTC including the Collaborative Projects between Institutions and Industries for Technology Development/Adoption (CPIITA) scheme. Mr. V. Giriraj, IAS (Retd.) and Chairman, Maharashtra Bamboo Promotion Foundation expressed the need to develop a package of practices for bamboo, ensure its fair price in the competitive market and to include a sustainability module on bamboo in educational institutes. Mr. Girish Sohani, Principal Adviser and Trustee, BAIF, traced the growth of the bamboo programme of BAIF to the early 80’s when it was planted on the periphery of wadi plantations and considered a poor man’s timber and which now has been repositioned as farmer’s produce. The meeting was attended by representatives from RGSTC, BAIF, MBPF, NABARD, Department of Horticulture, GoM, DBSKKV Dapoli, ISKCON, Wonder Grass Initiative, MIT, Pune, STRC, Gondwana University, Bamboo Society Maharashtra Chapter and farmers.
