Authors:Ratan Lal Banik
Abstract:Among the bamboo species growing in India, about twenty species show promise as suitable for modern industrial uses and trade on the basis of existing practices of utilization, wide occurrence in the different 15 Agroclimatic Zones (ACZ) and their comparative ease of propagation. The majority of commercial bamboo species have been either growing naturally or cultivated satisfactorily from the ACZ 2 to ACZ 10 (throughout northeast, north including Terai, eastern, and central part of India). The paper examines the distribution and occurrence of 20 major industrially important bamboo species in the different ACZ of the country. The clump phenotypes and diversity of flowering behavior in these bamboo species are highlighted along with the prospects in selection for production of quality planting material and diversified industrial utilization. The success rate of different propagation techniques of the 20 industrially suitable bamboo species are also presented.
Keywords:flowering behavior, Industrial Bamboos of India, morphological diversity, propagation