KVIC project to boost Bamboo-based economy to help tribals

New Delhi, Jul 5 (KNN) In a bid to reduce land desertification and provide livelihood and to support multi-disciplinary rural industry, Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) initiated a project on Sunday by planting 5,000 saplings of special bamboo species in Rajasthan.

''The project named ''Bamboo Oasis on Lands in Drought'' (BOLD) was launched on Sunday from the tribal village Nichla Mandwa in Udaipur, Rajasthan, by KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena in presence of local MP Arjun Lal Meena and over 2000 local villagers,'' the KVIC said in a statement.

The KVIC said that Project BOLD, which seeks to create bamboo-based green patches in arid and semi-arid land zones, is aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s call for reducing land degradation and preventing desertification in the country.

Under the project, 5,000 saplings of special bamboo species – Bambusa Tulda and Bambusa Polymorpha brought from Assam – have been planted over 25 bigha (16 acres) of vacant arid Gram Panchayat land.

"KVIC has thus created a world record of planting the highest number of bamboo saplings on a single day at one location," it added.

The initiative has been launched as part of KVIC’s “Khadi Bamboo Festival” to celebrate 75 years of independence “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”.

It further added that the KVIC is set to replicate the Project at Village Dholera in Ahmedabad district in Gujarat and Leh-Ladakh region by August this year. Total 15,000 bamboo saplings will be planted before August 21.

KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said the green patches of bamboo on these three places- Udaipur, Ahmedabad and Ladakh- will help in reducing the land degradation percentage of the country, while on the other hand, they will be havens of sustainable development and food security.

KVIC has judiciously chosen bamboo for developing green patches as they grow very fast and in about three years' time, they could be harvested.