Agartala: Tripura University in collaboration with the textile ministry's Bamboo and Cane Development Institute (BCDI) will introduce bamboo development course, according to officials on Monday (i.e. on September 13, 2010). The University will launch India's first course in value addition to bamboo products, which is anticipated to meet demands of the international market.
Arunoday Saha, University Vice-Chancellor (VC), told reporters that the theoretical part of the post-graduate diploma course would be conducted in the university campuses, while the practical and hands-on training part would be done at the BCDI under the guidance of foreign experts. He also added that bamboo technology and design experts from China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan would conduct the training.
As per sources, on Monday (September 13, 2010), Tripura University has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the BCDI to conduct the one-year course from academic year 2010-11. According to the BCDI officials, the new course would be industry and job-oriented. After completion of the course the students would be able to prepare value-added bamboo products, which would be consumer and demand driven. In addition, they said that the value addition and designing would be aimed at meeting the demands of international market.
R.K. Shrivastava, executive director of National Centre for Design and Product Development (NCDPD), has said that bamboo products of life style, domestic and products useful in everyday life have extreme demand in the national and international markets.
He also added that proper use of bamboo resources with the use of modern technology can give a big boost to the economy of the northeast India as apart from the domestic market, there is tremendous potential for exporting bamboo products, particularly to European countries and the US.
Of the 1,250 bamboo species all over the world, India has 145. Bamboo forests in India occupy approximately 10.03 million hectares, which constitutes almost 12.8 percent of the total forest area of the country. About 28 percent of the total bamboo area of the country is located in northeast India.
According to an official document, the distribution of species and the quantity of bamboos, however, is uneven and more than 50 percent of the bamboo species and 66 percent of growing stock, out of about 80.42 million tones, occurs in northeast India.
Moreover, there are about 1,500 documented applications of bamboos. The major ones are use in building materials, agricultural implements, furniture, musical instruments, food items, handicrafts, large bamboo based industries (paper pulp, rayon etc.) and packaging.
