Bangladesh develops 3 new bamboo varieties

Bamboo is widely used for constructing houses and making different products, including paper, but cultivating it is challenging due to its lengthy reproduction cycle.

To ease the process of bamboo farming, two decades ago the Bangladesh Forest Research Institute took up a research project to quickly produce its saplings by using tissue culture, which has led to development of three new bamboo varieties of better quality compared to the traditional ones.

On 14 August last year, the environment, forest and climate change ministry's expert committee scrutinised and evaluated the research results and recommended registering the three new bamboo varieties.

Later, on 16 August 2022 the Forest Research Institute's advisory committee made the final decision on registering the new bamboo species. Currently, the application for registering the new species is awaiting the agriculture ministry's approval.

How new bamboo varieties were developed

According to the Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, the cultivation of bamboo seedlings is a very long process. Some species of bamboos take 20 to 60 years to flower. That is why bamboo seedlings are currently produced mainly by "Kanchi Kalam" – a grafting method.

In 1991, the Forest Research Institute started a tissue culture lab to produce seedlings on a large scale by using modern methods. Researchers there developed three new bamboo varieties while producing Borak, Makla and Karjoba bamboo seedlings using tissue culture.

Researchers at the Forest Research Institute's Silviculture-Genetics Division lab completed the tissue culture protocol of Borak bamboo in 2002. Later they completed the tissue culture protocols for Makla bamboo in 2004 and for Karjoba bamboo in 2005.

The researchers observed that morphological characteristics of these new bamboo seedlings varied from the original species.

In 2005 researchers started testing the new varieties at field level in Pabna, Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University, Chittagong University's Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, and Bandarban.

When the test on growing the bamboo varieties in different places across the country was successful, the researchers decided to apply to authorities to officially register them. They named the variety developed from Borak bamboo (Bambusa balcooa) BB1, the variety developed from Makla bamboo (Bambusa nutans) BN1, and the one developed from Karjoba bamboo (Bambusa salarkhanii) BS1.

Dr Md Mahbubur Rahman, a Silviculture-Genetics Division official who led the research, told TBS, "New bamboo varieties have been developed keeping the quality of the original species intact. Productivity, and organ characteristics of the new varieties were evaluated at field level.

"The productivity of the new varieties were several times higher than the traditional ones. Their survival rate was 100% and they were disease free."

Dr Waheeda Parvin, senior research officer of the Silviculture-Genetics Division, told TBS, "After developing the tissue culture protocol, the new seedlings have been planted in different parts of the country. People responsible for looking after the testing grounds were trained to take care of the new varieties.

"Growth data were collected every two years after planting the seedlings. It has been observed that the new bamboo bushes were thicker, higher in height and quicker to mature."

15 varieties of bamboo seedlings produced by tissue culture

The Forest Research institute made a bamboo garden on five acres of land in its campus in Sholoshahar, Chattogram in 1973 for conserving different bamboo species and expanding its cultivation. The Syed Murtaza Hasan Bamboo Centre there conserves 37 species of bamboo. It also works as a centre for managing bamboo bushes, producing seedlings, storing seeds and training people.

Dr Waheeda Parvin said so far seedlings of 15 bamboo varieties through tissue culture could be produced and work is going on to produce seedlings of five more varieties. Research is also going on to produce new species.

According to a research report, "Global Bamboo Resources", of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), China ranks first in the world with 500 species of bamboo, while Brazil is in second place with 232 species, and Japan the third with 139 species.