Literature Review
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CHAPTER No.2 LITERATURE REVIEW With the interest in development of composite materials, and need of searching alternative cost effective materials, scientists and engineers have tried to utilize bamboo as a structural material. The information related to bamboo collected from various publications, books, etc; and through internet, is shortlisted and briefly presented in following heads. 1. Bamboo: The Natural Resource and its Importance. 2. Physical and Mechanical Properties of Bamboo. 3. Structural Properties of Bamboo. 4. Uses of Bamboo. 5. Bamboo Joints 2.1 Bamboo: The Natural Resource and its Importance Bamboo has a legacy that spans space, time, and culture. A poet has aptly said, 'When the first people on earth came To make the first village, The bamboo was there!' The largest of the grasses, there are over 1600 species of bamboo, 64 percent of which are native to Southeast Asia. Thirty-three percent grow in Latin America, and the rest in Africa and Oceania. The bamboo has adopted itself world-wide to diverse ecological conditions. The bamboo belt runs through tropical, subtropical and temperate climates around the globe up to 45 degree north and south latitude and upto 3500 m altitude. Fig.No.4 Area of distribution of bamboo 15 Bamboos are distributed both in the hills and plains in the tropical as well as subtropical regions of South and Southeast Asia. Over 75 genera and 1250 species of bamboos are reported to occur in the world. About 130 species belonging to 24 genera of bamboos have been reported from India. Out of these, 20 are indigenous and four are of exotic origin. India is the second richest country in bamboo generic resources after China. These two countries together hold more than half the total bamboo wealth distributed all over the world. Bamboo forests are distributed in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, hills of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. These also occur in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Orissa, the Western and Eastern Ghats. Very few species occur in the North western Himalayas. Ram Prasad 57 has stated that the total forest area covered by bamboos in the country is about 9.6 million hectares. This is about 12.8 percent of the total forest area of the country. In Madhya Pradesh (M.P.), the bamboos cover more than 1.8 million hectares of area. The major species are Bambusa arundinacea, Cephalostachyum pergracile, Dendrocalamus Strictus and Oxytenanthera nigrociliata. Of these, only D. strictus is exploited on a commercial basis as the other species are found only in small patches. In Madhya Pradesh, bamboo forests are managed on scientific and systematic lines for the supply of raw material to the paper mills and to meet the requirements of the rural population. The felling cycle has been fixed at four years throughout the State. The bamboo forests have been categorised as under: Type I - Good quality bamboos with high density (Hoshangabad, Betul and Chhindwara district) Type II - Bamboo forests of inferior quality and of low density (Bastar, Chhindwara, Seoni and North Raipur districts) Type HI - Good quality bamboos on slopes (Bastar and Kanker districts) Type IV - Bamboos with high density but in scattered patches (Bastar district). H. S. Thapa, et al has suggested a participatory approach for conservation of plant and species and utilization of resources for socio-economic development of local inhabitant. Bamboo also contributes a good amount of revenue to the state exchequer by regularly supplying a raw material to the paper mill owned by Hindustan Paper Corporation, Silchar. The paper presents the list of species of bamboo found in Mizoram. K.Ravindran39 has detailed main functions of "Bamboo Information Centre (BIC) (India)" which has been set up at the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) with IDRC funding for disseminating information on bamboo. In China, the results from the recent research activities have already led to significantly improved cultivation, management and processing practices with an increased production of bamboo culms. An improvement in the quality of bamboo 16 products has also been achieved. However, in countries with rich bamboo resources, adequate attention is not paid to the cost calculation of bamboo production. There are regions in the world with a similarly long tradition of bamboo utilization such as Japan and Taiwan. Nevertheless, a distinct decline in bamboo utilization and processing can be observed. The cultivation area and the yield of bamboo harvested have decreased substantially, mainly due to the pressure on land. The general economic and technical development requires costly machinery and, in turn, higher wages, which do not favour the use of a relatively cheap natural material like bamboo for construction when compared with timber or plastic for the manufacture of furniture and other commodities. The first IDRC workshop on Bamboo Research in Asia was held in Singapore. It can be regarded as a pathbreaking event as numerous conferences and activities have followed since then, such as the IUFRO World Congress in 1981 in Kyoto, Japan; the American Bamboo Society meeting in 1983 at Mayagues, Puerto Rico; the Second International Bamboo Workshop by IDRC and the Ministry of Forestry, China in Hangzhou in 1985; IUFRO World Congress in 1986 in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia; the founding of a European Bamboo Society in 1987; the Second International Bamboo Conference in 1988 in France, and finally Third IDRC supported International Bamboo Workshop organized by the Kerala Forest Research Institute, India. Thus an impressive enthusiasm and activity for bamboo have developed worldwide due to the input by national organizations and international assistance. The World Bamboo Congress87 is a forum to bring together experts from various facets of the bamboo sector, to facilitate exchange of information and knowledge, and promote greater international cooperation contributing substantially to the development of the sector throughout the world. Jointly, these experts represent a collective talent and wisdom that exist in the bamboo sector. The VII World Bamboo Congress was held in New Delhi, India, from 27 February to 4 March 2004. The theme of the Congress was 'Bamboo for Integrated Development'. The previous six International Bamboo Workshops /Congress were held in Singapore (1980); Hangzhou, China (1985); Cochin, India (1988); Chiangmai, Thailand (1991); Bali, Indonesia (1985); and San Jose, Costa Rica (1998). In his evocative inaugural address, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, christened bamboo as the 'green gold', replete with potential and promises for ecological and livelihood support to the vast global population. Quipping that bamboo is an 'ordinary' plant with 'extraordinary' qualities, he called it a 'Symbol of strength, flexibility, tenacity, and endurance', which has been 'integral to the daily life of people throughout Asia' for centuries. Beyond its 'over 1500 17 documented uses, from the cradle to the coffin", the bamboo is already creating a new generation of global products to enrich our lives. 'Power generation, pharmaceuticals, water purifiers and filters, innovative industrial and construction applications render it a dependable wood substitute. 'The VII World Bamboo Congress concluded with recommendations in different areas such as Plantation, Technology, Research and Development, Standards and Codes, Policy issues, Education and training, Machines and tools, Marketing, Networking. Details are available in the reference . An International Policy Workshop on " Bamboo in Fisheries" was organized by Centre for Indian Bamboo Resources and Technology ( CIBART) India at National Institute of Oceaneography , Goa on 30th Sept- 1st Oct ; 2004. The present author presented a technical paper related to Innovative bamboo products for fisheries sector and coastal areas. In this workshop recommendations related to fisheries gear, packging water transportation and local bamboo resource utilization in fisheries sector have been done.The need of demonstration and improvement in the applications of bamboo for raft and packaging as suggested in the paper, is recommended in the workshop. % Limitations in the use of Bamboo10 Many researchers, in all continents, now work on bamboo and are trying to explore its wider application and utilization. Not everyone has sufficient knowledge and experience to appreciate the limitations of bamboo as for any other natural raw material. Some important biological aspects that need to be kept in mind are given below. 1. An increasing demand often leads to premature felling of the culms. This reduces the biological productivity of the remaining culms for new shoots. In addition, the prematurely harvested culms are more liable to splitting and biological attack. 2. Unlike some wood, bamboo does not have any toxic substances to make it resistant. Consequently, bamboo culms remain liable to biological degradation whenever the environmental conditions are suitable for fungi or beetles. 3. Unlike wood, bamboo does not possess anatomical pathways which enable a radial penetration of preservatives. Even worse, its outer skin is highly refractory towards penetration, and any uptake from the inside is also limited 18 4. Many people now realize the great potential of bamboo in the context of declining timber resources. For this purpose, scientists are trying to find ways of improving the growth, management