Indo-Taiwan Global bamboo tech forum to brainstorm on post-Covid19 plan
K.V. Lakshmana, INN/New Delhi, Consulting Editor (Honorary)
He can be contacted on [email protected]
North East will be hosting the 2020 India Taiwan Global Bamboo Tech Forum on Friday with a view to expanding cooperation between the two countries on the bamboo industry. This is an initiative of SABF and the National Cheng Chung University of Taiwan, being organized with Guwahati University, Assam, and Japan Bamboo Society as Knowledge partners.
The Webinar to be inaugurated by Prof. Pratap Jyoti Handique, Vice-Chancellor, Gauhati University, Dr. Shibata SHOZO, Chief Director of Japan Bamboo Society, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Japan will deliver the keynote speech.
This is the second in the Series of International Webinars being organized by “2020 INDIA TAIWAN GLOBAL BAMBOO TECH FORUM” the first being held on 10th June with the theme “Global Bamboo and Livelihood in Covid-19 World” which was inaugurated by Mr. Chung- Kwang Tien (Ambassador of Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India).
Key Panellists and experts from India, Nepal, Taiwan, and FAO Regional Office at Bangkok and participants from 17 countries took part in the Webinar to devise the way forward and to meet the situation arising out of the Pandemic.
South Asia Bamboo Foundation (SABF) has signed an MOU with National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan for strategic Collaboration agreement on 6th August 2019 the main purpose of this agreement is to enable and facilitate the development of education and innovation of bamboo and bamboo technology from Taiwan and India and in South Asia.
Also, to create a partnership to promote SDGs of United Nations by using Bamboo and its application in South Asia, to cooperative to develop an international research project or social or development or responsibility projects relate Bamboo and Bamboo Charcoal innovation and biodegradable products as a non-plastic substitute and others in the bamboo value chain.
In recent years a variety of products (Building materials, food, and clothing- made from Bamboo found their way into the West thus creating a multi-billion $ global market (estimated @$60 Billion) for this woody grass.
India is second only to China in Bamboo production and it is immensely popular in the NE region. Bamboo is one of the most abundant and environmentally-friendly and sustainable resources available in the North East Region, which is not being used to its full potential. The North Eastern Himalayan region of India has a great diversity of bamboo resources.
Most of the species come across in our country are indigenous Dense bamboos are found mostly in Arunachal Pradesh followed by Mizoram and Manipur. Mizoram occupies the largest forest area under different bamboo species, followed by Meghalaya.
As this region is the largest reservoir of bamboo resources in India, screening is required to identify the most delicate bamboo species and the development of a package of practices for their mass multiplication.
Four States of Northeast i.e. Tripura, Assam, Mizoram, and Nagaland have formulated their own policies for the development of Bamboo and conservation of Bamboo forests.
Reviving Livelihoods of the Bamboo sector of the NE States of India will be a crucial factor after the Post -COVID 19. The pandemic has disturbed economic activities cutting across spheres whether it is small or large industries, MSME, or cottage industries. And bamboo is one of them.
A restructured plan is highly imperative where DoNER and National Bamboo Mission of India have to play a key role by offering stimulus. Bamboo, still an informal sector, which needs intervention with applicable govt, supports the recovery can be quick.
The outcome of the discussion at this Webinar by the experts from Global Bamboo Forum with inputs from key academicians from Various key experts will be big input to this sector to formulate key policy interventions that will help the sector.
