History of the bamboo sector in Kerala 

Village level craft groups and the agrarian economy

Bamboos were found abundant in the forest and home gardens in Kerala. Until recently, every village and almost every medium/large household used to have its own sufficient stock of bamboos. If Kerala is considered as a conglomeration of villages now defined as the panchayats, every panchayat had its bamboo working artisan families from the traditional communities. It was this traditional family of artisans, especially from the paraya (SC) community, who satisfied the requirements of the agrarian economy.  Baskets, mats and winnowers were the main items produced. The artisans used to have direct access to their customers and this helped them in maintaining the demand-supply chain successfully. Bamboo was also available in the common lands and stream banks, fringes of the forest areas etc.

The 2^nd World War and the change in the production pattern:

The drastic change in the situation occurred during the 2^nd World War period. Mats became an important material for the temporary constructions in the warfronts and European entrepreneurs’ entered the scene. The demand was created for workers and around Ankamaly area people from other castes also entered the scene. Thus the market economy started functioning and concentrated resource mobilization and production came into full play. The post war period saw the drastic shortage in demand and many of the entrepreneurs transferred the burden on to the workers either by paying less for the mats or abandoning the scene. Actions to mitigate the sufferings of the community became a continued plea before the authorities and  enquiry committees were constituted to suggest remedial measures. Finally in 1971 the Kerala State Bamboo Corporation came into existence at Ankamaly. The main objective of the corporation  was to supply reeds to the weavers and purchase of the mats produced.

The pulp Industries came into existence in Kerala at Punalur , Veloor and the Rayon unit of Grasim at Calicut. These units had contracts with the Forest Dept. of the State Govt. for the purchase of Bamboo at subsidized rates. About 3 lakh tons of bamboo were to be supplied to this units.

 Due to the non-availability of the raw material and other socio-political and environmental issues only the Hindustan News Print factory at Veloor is presently functioning. To ensure raw material availability they have shifted partly to other soft woods also.

Formation of the Bamboo Corporation and its functions

The Bamboo Corporation was formed in 1971 to redress the grievances faced by the mat weaving community. As part of its product diversification activity, the first Mat Board Unit started functioning in 1985.  Today around 25,000 weaving families are depended on the Corporation.  The corporation supplies reeds to the workers in different parts of the state through their sales depots numbering around 100 and the woven mats are purchased at the collection centers often associated with the supply sources. The workers are paid as per the number of mats of the given size after deducting the reed cost which is about 20 - 25 percent of the mat cost. The reeds are supplied in bundles of 15-20 and is priced under 10 grades.  The average cost of a reed  measuring about 15 – 20 ft is Rs.2 – 2.25/-. The Corporation supplies only one type of reed bamboo , Ochlandra travancorica  which is commonly called as  eeta in Malayalam.

The fine quality special grade mats are pressed into bamboo ply boards and ordinary mats are supplied to customers like the Food Corporation of India, Central and State Warehousing Corporation, Sugar mills etc.    Societies and individual artisans also purchase reeds from the Sales depots and supply the mats to private traders.

The average artisan weaves about 30 sq ft of fine mat in a day  or 70 – 75 sq ft of ordinary mat. The price paid for a 6.24 x 4.25 ft   mat is Rs. 35 and for a 8.25 x 4.25 ft mat is Rs.50. The workers are also entitled to bonuses , medical claims and other social securities.

Industrial Production / The bamboo ply board factory at Ankamaly

The Board factory produces  hot pressed Bamboo mat  + veneer ply boards of 3mm and 4mm thickness. The annual out put of ply boards is around 60 lakh sq ft. The board unit employs about 75 workers. Though there is a growing demand for boards at the national level, the corporation has not been able to capitalize on this market demand. Adequate policy interventions and marketing strategies will have to be evolved to solve the present crisis faced by the unit.

National and State level intervention in the craft segment

The craft segment producing curios and highly refined art items were under the purview of  the  Government Departments of the Development Commissioner Handicrafts, The Khadi and village industries Commission/ Board  and the State Handicrafts Departments. Trainings were provided to various craft groups in the state under the central and state sponsored schemes. Since the trainer artisans were from the N.E regions the products acquired an all India common pattern. The trainings lacked the support of the design centers in creating new designs capable of meeting the market demands. Many units became uneconomical and were closed down. It is only since the late 90s that serious programmes were taken up under the Ambedkar Hasth Shilp Vikas Yojana programme and other cluster development programmes of th DCH etc.

Problems of the Bamboo sector in Kerala

The bamboo sector has witnessed an upsurge in the East Asian countries especially China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand etc. Though India had the vast bamboo resources at its disposal the sector had not witnessed the corresponding developments.

For analyzing the developments even at the panchayat level it has to be done after placing it in the overall framework at the national level. Though Kerala has its own unique problems as mentioned else where in the report, the role of the promoting Central Agencies and the State Level agencies and the Financial institutions has to be considered since they all play vital role in determining the course of events. Some of the issues influencing the development is highlighted below:  

Raw material availability from forest and outside:  the legal issues

In Kerala the bamboo resource enhancement has to happen simultaneously with any processing and cluster development activities. Since bamboos grown both inside and outside the forest areas both the issues has to be tackled.

Bamboo is considered in India as a  forest produce and the felling and transport of bamboos are regulated by the Indian Forest Act even if grown outside the forest areas. Since it falls in the concurrent list, the State Government has the right to formulate appropriate rules in this regard. Many state Government like Andhra pradesh , Madhya pradesh etc have formulated rules to categorize bamboos under NTFP List. Andhra pradesh has removed restrictions for transporting all bamboo species other than that growing in the forests.  The Government of Kerala is yet to make this amendments even though unlike other states 67.3 % of  all extracted bamboo in the state comes from homestead Gardens. By removing these trade/transport restrictions the bamboo economy can be boosted.

Participatory management of the Forests as envisaged in the Forest Policy 1980 can bring in a lot of positive response to the cause of bamboo among the forest depended communities of the mentioned in the Forest . Preservation and extraction by the Participatory Forest Management Committees (PFM) has to be resorted to on a larger scale.

Resource Management inside the forest Area

The forest bamboos has to be scientifically extracted and required replanting done. Though extraction rules exist, it is hardly adhered to.  This can provide better yields from the area.

Farm Bamboo and the planting programmes:

Bamboos in homesteads, common lands, Stream sides, wastelands etc can provide quality raw material to the production units at the local levels. This will become an additional income source for the farmers. Better yields can also be ensured. Even in the current untended form , the homestead bamboo stocks are being offered attractive return from the prospective buyers. Hindustan News Print, which is the benchmark of the market price, offers Rs.1750 per tonne at its gate for bamboo. Local price is much higher for small consumers. This rates are comparable to the per hectare yield of many cash crops.

Planting programmes can be organised with the assistance of Local Self Government,SHGs NGO’s and farmers. This can be taken up as part of the environment protection programmes at Stream banks, Hill slopes, degraded land etc

Technology and Productivity:

The technology interventions in the Bamboo sector have been minimal at all levels. Even at Bamboo Corporation no significant change has happened as regarding the extraction, processing and product diversification of bamboos. Access to the latest technologies, designs and products are available and what is required is the vision to integrate the activities to the set goal. Wherever required mechanization has to be brought in.

By adopting better production technologies and upgrading the awareness levels of the involved artisans the productivity can be improved to a large extend.

Quality assurance /problems of evolving the systems:

The quality of the products is a challenge the rural units will have to overcome. In the agrarian economies, in order to orient the artisans to adopt such levels will be a tedious task, awareness building by letting the artisans interact with the customers during exhibitions, site visits, discussions etc will have to be undertaken to achieve e the above results. A regular center catering to such requirements will be an essential part of the Cluster that can be developed major bamboo centers in the State.

Treatment of Bamboos

The serious issue confronted in the market is the doubt of the customer regarding the durability of the bamboo product and its capacity to resist the borer attack (Post powder Beetle).  Technologies has improved to a large extend  now that it is possible to avoid borer attack on bamboos especially in split bamboos. In full round bamboos also methods like the Boucherie treatments are found to be successful. Propaganda has also to be conducted to assure the customers of the durability of the material. The proposed Bamboo Cluster should essentially have the Treatment facility centers from where the processed raw material can be purchased by the individual production units.

Tooling and Machinery :

It is a known fact that the bamboo sector in India is still in its nascent state. Its potential can be realized by making the necessary improvements as being practiced in East Asian Countries.