Wizened old Jidemadamma has to depend on her neighbours for meals. Her son and daughter-in-law have gone to Kodagu to collect pepper from trees and will not be back before two weeks. “They took the children along because I cannot move around much. Earlier, all of us stayed together here.

Northeastern states have exported bamboo products worth Rs 24.85 Crore in 2006-07, which was Rs 17.28 crore in 2005-06 and Rs 14.18 Crore in 2004-05, newly appointed Industry and Commerce Minister of

The National Steering Committee (NSC) of the National Bamboo Mission (NBM), held under the chairmanship of the Secretary (Agriculture & Cooperation), Govt of India, on January 17, 2008, had approved a

KOKRAJHAR

A special team of the Coimbatore City Police late on Saturday night arrested in Kerala three of a 10-member inter-State sandalwood smuggling gang that robbed two policemen of a pistol here on February 23. The pistol was not recovered. The city police had constituted special teams to probe the incident. The teams co-ordinated with the Coimbatore Rural Police and the Kerala police, sharing intelligence and seeking assistance, when required. During a vehicle check in the Naatukal police limits in Palakkad district of Kerala, one of the special teams intercepted a jeep and arrested H. Haris (33) of Mannarkad, B. Syed Alavi Kunjani (49) and F.M. Sharbudeen alias Sherief (23) of Palakkad. The jeep used by the gang for smuggling sandalwood logs was seized. The three were brought to Coimbatore along with the jeep. The hunt for the seven other gang members is continuing.

Punjab has chosen as a nodal state by the Union Agriculture Ministry to implement the National Bamboo Mission Programme for promoting cultivation, value addition, processing and marketing of bamboo crop. Tikshan Sud, forests and wildlife preservation minister said to promote diversification of land use, Punjab had submitted a proposal to the union government for promoting cultivation, value addition, processing and marketing of bamboo.

As the summer draws to a close, there is a distinct gaiety in most parts of Orissa. There is a spring in the steps of people as they go about preparing for the Jagannath Utsav. In Majhiakhand village

With the North-east teeming with 63 species of bamboo, which account for nearly 50 per cent of the total species of woody monocots found in India, the Deovan-based Rain Forest Research Institute here is gearing up to emerge as a

Often termed as poor man's timber, bamboo, with its various new applications can well be an alternative housing solution for the earthquake prone areas due to its high tensile strength structurally. Exploring the use of bamboo as an alternative to the rapidly depleting wood resources in housing and other industrial activities, a three-day residential training programme on modern bamboo structures and housing will be organised at Kohra, Kaziranga National Park from March 6 to 8, 2008. The programme is jointly organised by Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre and Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. The programme aims to provide technical know-how on the use of the bamboo technology as a whole, particularly in the housing sector and in varied structural applications. "For the first time a workshop of such magnitude on bamboo technology is being organised in Kaziranga dealing with the new applications of bamboo other than the traditional use,' said the sources in the CBTC. The programme, targeting the civil engineers, architects, consultants, builders, developers contractors, entrepreneurs and NGOs among others, would have partici-pants mainly from North East as well as neighbouring Nepal. The training programme would elaborately deal with the topics including bamboo of NE India, availability and suitability for building construction, the structure of bamboo and its mechanical and engineering properties, durability and preservation of bamboo, code an standards bamboo in building construction, bamboo structures for eco-tourism and earthquake prone areas, introduction to bamboo applications for industrial and housing materials, engineered bamboo products and its usefulness in housing industry, bamboo construction for rural housing and bamboo policies and impact on national and regional developmental issues. In order to tap the abundant bamboo resources of the North East; the North Eastern Council (NEC) launched the North East Regional Bamboo Mission aimed at sustainable development of the bamboo sector. The CBTC, established in 2000 is a registered body under the auspices of the NEC, which is carrying out the mandate of the North East Bamboo Mission since October 2004. The CBTC has now undertaken a wide range of bamboo constructions in and around the NE region both in public and private sectors. On the other hand, the BMTPC is actively involved in developing bamboo-based technologies and promoting those technologies in the bamboo growing areas including the North East.

Myristica Dactyoloides, popularly known as Ramapatre, is near-extinct and needs instant protection,writes Sandhya Hegde Almane. Myristica Dactyoloides is an indication of water sources. Myristica Dactyoloides, popularly known as Ramapatre in Kannada, is mainly found in the Western Ghats and is almost extinct. A prominent non-timber forest product species found in evergreen forests, Ramapatre is a major income generator too. In fact, people earn as much as Rs 22,000 per season from the sale of Ramapatre. Sadly, in the recent past, the branches of these trees are drying up in the forests of Bengaon, Mattighatta and Heggarani in Siddapur. Myristica Dactyoloides is one of the major non-timber forest products like garcinia gummigutta, and cinnamon. Myristica tree grows up to 15 meters in height, blossoms from March to June and fruits from October to March. The seeds of Myristica are vulnerable to temperature and humidity, while the fruit perishes very soon. Ecologically, Myristica is in a dying condition and needs immediate protection. Over extraction and the harvest of unripe fruits have endangered the survival of the species in recent days. Since unripe fruits are harvested, the branches of the trees are affected and the availability of mature fruits has decreased. About 95 per cent of fruits are harvested in the month of March. While the nutmeg and mace are dried and sold, fleshy fruits are used for pickles and sold in parts of Tamil Nadu. According to experts, fruits shouldn't be harvested early so as to lead to regeneration. They suggest that some mature fruits should be left on the trees for progeny. This fruit is also known as kadu jajika in Kannada, kattu jathikai in Tamil and pantha payin in Malayalam. Myristica malabarica and Myristica fatua are two more popular names of Myristica Dactyoloides. Now the trees are affected by a strange disease, leading to the loss of innumerable immature nuts. According to Prof R Vasudev, College of Forestry, Sirsi, Lycanidae, an insect of butterfly family, feeds on the leaves and bark of these trees, weakening them. A similar phenomenon was reported in Thirthahalli forest region three years ago. "A species, that's feared is heading the extinct way, remains only when breed cultivation is developed by resistant trees. Already, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has identified Myristica Dactyoloides as one of the about-to-be-extinct species at the international level,' revealed Mr Vasudev. In order to preserve the species, the plant is to be grown in nurseries, cultivated in home gardens and planted back in the forests. Prakruti, an NGO in Sirsi, is involved in the resource mapping of the species, raising them in nurseries and spreading awareness about the importance of the survival of the plant species among the general public through meetings and workshops.