|
Mizoram Bamboo
Area covered by Bamboo:
Bamboo forest covers 12,54,400.00
ha out of the total area of 21,090 sq.Km. of the Mizoram
State. The bamboo forest contributes to 14% of all India
bamboo area of 8.96 million ha, which further constitutes
11.71% of the 74.96 million ha of forest area of the
country. The total bamboo yield of Mizoram
is 32,37,689 MT/Year. Bamboo is distributed thoroughly
between 40 - 1520 m altitude of Mizoram.
Top
Species of Bamboo in
Mizoram:
A total of 23 species of bamboo
have been identified in the forest of Mizoram as below :-
|
Sl.
No |
Scientific
Name
|
Local
Name
|
Status
|
|
1 |
Bambusa
Khasiana
|
Rawte |
Common
|
|
2 |
Bambusa longispiculata |
Rawthing
|
Less Common |
|
3 |
Bambusa oliveriana
|
Talan
|
Less common |
|
4 |
Bambusa pallida |
- |
As record in Bamboos of India
|
|
5 |
Bambusa tulda
|
Rawthing
|
Common
|
|
6 |
Bambusa vulgaris |
Vairua
|
Introduced
|
|
7 |
Chimonobambusa collosa
|
Phar
|
Common
|
|
8 |
Dendrocalamus hamiltonii |
Phulrua |
Very common
|
|
9 |
Dendrcalamus hookeri
|
Rawlak/Rawkhauh |
Less common
|
|
10 |
Dendrocalamus longispathus
|
Rawnal
|
Very common
|
|
11 |
Dendrocalamus sikkimensis
|
Rawmi
|
Common
|
|
12 |
Dendrocalamus strictus |
Tursing
|
Introduced
|
|
13 |
Dendrocalamus spp
|
Rawpui/Rawchhia (Changdum) |
Common-need authentication
|
|
14 |
Dendrocalamus spp
|
Rawpui/Rawchhia (Changdam)
|
Common-need authentication
|
|
15 |
Dendrocalamus spp
|
Ram Rawpui |
Common-need authentication
|
|
16 |
Dinochloa compactiflora
(Melocalamus compactiflorus)
|
Sairil
|
Very common |
|
17 |
Gigantochloa albociliata
|
Rawthing tial
|
Common
|
|
18 |
Melocanna baccifera
|
Mautak
|
Very common
|
|
19 |
Pseudoschyum polymarphum
|
Chal
|
Need authentication
|
|
20 |
Racemobamboos mannii
( Neomicrocalamus mannii )
|
Saiman
|
Rare
|
|
21 |
Schizostachyum capitatum
|
Rawngal
|
Common
|
|
22 |
Schizostachyum dulloa
|
Rawthla
|
Common
|
|
23 |
Sinarundinaria griffithiana |
Lik
|
Rare as recorded in Bamboos of India
|
|
24 |
Sinarundinaria intermedia |
Lik
|
Common
|
|
25 |
Sinarundinaria longispiculata
|
Lik
|
Rare as recorded in Bamboos of India
|
|
26 |
Dendrocalamus/Bambusa spp. ?
|
Ankua
|
Need authentication
|
Top
Bamboo
utilisation in the present scenario:
At present, only a small
percentage of bamboo resource, 28, 315 MT/Year are harvested
for the purpose of local construction, tiny handloom and
handicraft production.
While the total bamboo yield works
out to be 32,37,689 MT/Year in Mizoram, the annual aggregate
consumption figures at 28, 315 MT/Year, resulting an annual
Bamboo surplus of 32,09,374. Present bamboo resources
extracted accounts for 1% of the total yield and thus 99% of
the surplus bamboo yield of Mizoram wasted unutilised.
Thus, there is a huge surplus of
32,09,374 MT/Year annually, which can be scientifically and
gainfully utilised for generating huge amount of resources
to the State.
Top
Factors detrimental to environment and bamboo resources:
Large area of forest and huge
amount of bamboo is wasted annually by ways of cutting and
burning for jhum (slash and burnt) cultivation and forest
fire. Thus there occurs a huge loss of resource to the State
besides rendering damage to the State bamboo forest reserve
and the green environment due to absence to alternative
livelihood for the rural cultivators.
Induction
of Other Varieties of Bamboo
Following the decision of
Government of India to take up large scale Bamboo plantation
in the country, the Environment & Forest Department,
Government of Mizoram submitted Bamboo Resource Development
Project for Mizoram to take up 5000 Ha of bamboo plantation
annually.
Top
Bamboo Flowering in
Mizoram:
The
ill effect of previous flowering of bamboo may be seen from
the sad incident as
- In 1991-12, many people moved away from their native
village to settle as far as Tripura, Manipur and Western
Burma. A man of Lalhrima’s village fetched rice from 35
kms away and a night before he reached home, he developed a
cholera symptoms. The poor man was dragged out of the
village before he was dead and buried there by his family.
The family even did not return to the village and stayed in
a thlam. That night, all people from his veng ran away of
the village in all directions to the jungle and to make
thing worse a dangerous thunderstorm assaulted them.
-
In 1959-60, a sever famine followed bamboo flowering.
There was severe starvation and the common mass had general feeling of neglect by the Indian Government.
This led to rebellion and MNF gone underground which lasted
for 20 years costing numerous dear lives and heavy
casualties.
Sporadic
flowering of m.beciferra and d.hamiltonii started in 2001
and seeds of m.baciferra are available every year during
late May to early August. 
From
the initial observation of m.baciferra seeds falling on the
ground in the forest, juice and seed part in the interior of
the seed are eaten away by rats. In the earlier flowering of
bamboo in Mizoram, it is said that rodent population are
feasting on these bamboo seeds and multiple themselves in
terms of ten thousands in a year and once, the bamboo seeds
are no longer available to them, they finished away all
agriculture products in a day migrating from place to place
in thousands and thousands numbers. Henceforth, severe
famine is the unavoidable circumstances.
|
