It is an evergreen woody perennial plant which belongs to the family of poaceae. The annual production of bamboo is 3.2 million tonnes and the productivity is 0.13tonnes/acre. In India approximately 125 species are found, from which most of the species are found in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and West Bengal. Bamboo tree attains the height of 30m and diameter of 25-30cm. The leaves are long, unlimited flowers and small seeds. The weight of 1000 seeds are approximately 10gm.

It is grown in variety of soil ranging from sandy loam to clay loam soil. Avoid cultivation in rocky soil. The pH of the soil ranging between 4.5-6.0 is good for bamboo farming.

Thamnocalamus falconeri: Suitable for planting in sloppy, lime stone area, moist areas, and along the bank of river. The plant attains the height of 3.3-6.5m and diameter of 1.5-2.3cm. It is used for making household material, fan, umbrella etc.
 
Thamnocalamus spathiflorus: This species grow with evergreen pine forests in the herd. The plant attains the height of 2.5-6.7m and diameter of 1.5-2.3cm. It is mainly used to make various agricultural instruments and Hookah pipes.
 

Time of sowing:
Sowing should be done in February-March month.

Spacing:
For seed sowing, use distance of 3.0-4.5m or 3m x 3m.

Sowing depth:
Depth should be 10-15cm.
 

Seed rate:
Use 165plants for per acre land for sowing.

Seed treatment:
Before sowing, rhizomes are treated with Bavistin@0.1%.
 

Fertilizer Requirement (gm/tree)

At the time of sowing application of cow dung/compost manure@5kg, SSP@100gm and MOP@50gm should be done. Chlorpyriphos@10ml is also mixed to prevent termite. Urea@100gm is added in two equal splits; first is added in June month and second is added in July month.

For intercropping, ginger, chilies and turmeric can be used. Shade loving aromatic or medicinal plants can be grown.

Two times in a year training should be done as it helps to make root system and stem right. Dig soil 10-15cm deep and 30-45cm away from the cutting. It helps to open the roots and air is also obtained from the roots to the plant.

The pruning of heavy branches should be done to obtain good growth. In second and third year light pruning should be done and in fourth year heavy pruning should be done. The suitable time for pruning is in December-January month.
 

In the initial years of plant sowing weeding is necessary. In first two year, weeding operation is done at the end of rainy season or wet weather. Once the stem gets established, the number of weeds get decreased. Mulching is also an effective way to control weeds.

After transplanting, in initial years irrigation is required.

• Pest and their control:
  

Termite and grub: If infestation is observed spraying of Chlorpyriphos 20 EC@1ltr  in 150ltr water should be done.

Grasshopper: If infestation is observed spraying of Malathion 50 EC@4ml/ltr of water should be done.

• Disease and their control:

Leaf spot: The symptoms are orange yellow color spikes on leaves which turns black in color.

Treatment: On incidence of disease spray with Indofil M-45@400gm or Captan @300gm/100Ltr of water per acre. If necessary repeat the spray at interval of 15 days.
 

First harvesting should be done after 6 months of sowing. Cuttings can be done annually and upto 50 years. It gives an average yield of 1.2-1.6tonnes/acre as understory in forest and 2-5tonnes/acre from plantations.