Bamboo, as Potential Sources of Food Security, Economic Prosperity and Ecological Security in North-East India: An Overview

Abstract

The evergreen and versatile plant, bamboo, is intricately associated with humans since decades. It is the fastest growing plant and is estimated to cover 8.96 million ha of the total 63.3 million ha forest of India. The North-East India harbors about 43% of the total bamboo wealth of India. Especially in the rural areas it plays a key role in the life of the people. The utilization of juvenile shoots of bamboo as health food is a lesser known fact as compared to its industrial usage. The shoots having high nutritional and therapeutic values can be opted to make up the deficiencies of nutrients in the diet and utilized to feed the ever increasing human population. Bamboo, the precious gift of nature to mankind, enriches the socio-economic condition of the common people of North-East region of the India. Because of the growth habits and biological characteristics, bamboo is not only an ideal economic investment which can be used in various way but also have enormous capacity for mitigating many ecological problems faced by the world at present. The present review gives an insight into the role of bamboo in the North-East India along with future prospects in view of food security, economic prosperity and ecological security.