Bamboos and their Conservation in North-East India

Bamboo with its multifarious utility plays an important role in food and nutritional security of the tribal population in North-East India besides industrial value. Most of the tree improvement in bamboo is based on phenotypic selection followed by clonal multiplication. Since bamboo flowers rarely sexual propagation based improvement has limited success resulting in less variation. Hence creation of variation through tissue culture and molecular means have greater potential in bamboo. The depleting bamboo genetic resources should be conserved by ex-situ and in-situ means. Monopodial bamboo species which are usually stretched in large area like M. bacciferain in NC Hills and D. hamiltonii in Mikir hills can be conserved by declaring these areas as gene sanctuary for these species. The sympodial bamboo species with sparse distribution can be conserved through community based approach and by developing 'Bambusetum'. Strengthening inventories of bamboo genetic resources and their distribution, data on important products and their utilization, knowledge on domestic and international markets, developing appropriate bamboo based agroforestry system, capacity building by way of training in management of micro enterprise and cooperative, availability of micro credit for people operating at very subsistence level, value added bamboo processing and design technologies are important issues to be answered in this part of the country to boom with bamboo.