By the Editor:
Bamboos belong to the grass family and flourish in warm climatic regions like hot Asian and African countries as well as in Central and South America. Depending on types of soil, they range from dwarf varieties which are very short and small in size to giant-looking trees which are very huge and tall growing up to a height of 120 feet or more and a circumference of about 3 feet and some bamboos can attain a height of 3 feet in one day. In tropical areas, bamboo houses are quite common as they are cool and refreshing. Furniture, household equipment of various kinds, fence posts, bridges, fishing poles, water pipes, flutes and musical instruments are products made from bamboo. Bamboo shoots are delicious food items and can be preserved and canned in containers or bottles as pickles. Bamboo shoots are tasty and nourishing which can also be cooked along with meat like pork, beef, mutton or chicken. Stem can be split into small, thin strip pieces used for weaving into rugs and blankets, mat, fishing nets, baskets of different designs and sizes, etc. Bamboo containers are useful for storing salt and compressed bamboos serve as good, strong, durable materials for house construction, doors windows, almirahs, beds, chairs, etc.
Scientists estimate that there are about 7,000 kinds of grasses which are broadly categorised into four groups, namely, pasture grasses, grain grasses or cereals, sweet grasses and bamboos. Pasture grasses which sustain animal life are known as prairies
or plains in the United States of America (USA) and Canada, downs in the United Kingdom (UK), ranges in Australia and some parts of USA, pampas in South America, steppes in Russia, velds in South Africa and savannas in the tropics. Grain grasses or cereal grasses are wheat, rice, corn or maize, oats, barley and millet which serve as staple crops for humans. The word “cereal” is derived from “ceres” the Roman goddess of grain and of harvest. Sweet grasses are grasses which produce sweet juices.
Sorghum and sugarcane belong to this family of grasses. Sorghum is a material for bread and sugarcane is obtained from sugar and molasses. Bagasse, remnant of the last stage of sugarcane, is used as fuel, manure, paper material and boards for building construction.
More than 2,000 years ago, the Chinese made paper from wood pulp which is derived from bamboo. Other countries like India and Myanmar soon followed their example of making paper from bamboo. Warm and hot regions of Meghalaya are very suitable for planting and growing of bamboos which till a few years back were exported mostly to paper industries at Jagiroad and Silchar in Assam. Bamboo growing, no doubt, is a good source of income but if planted in rich and fertile places it consumes soil nutrients at a rapid pace rendering the soil dry and unsuitable for other crops. Experts advise that bamboo should be grown on steep slopes and cliffs for preservation and protection against soil erosion.