Bamboo in Kerala

Bamboo in Homesteads of Kerala

The estimated numbers of culms is 13.61 million
The weight of the total culms is 0.331 million tonnes
The major species available in homesteads are Bambusa bambos, Bambusa vulgaris, Dendrocalamus strictus, Ochlandra (reed), Thyrsostachys oliveri and Pseudoxytenanthera stocksii

BAMBOO – in Kerala Homesteads

Species - wise total number of culms and green weight
Bb* Bv* Ds* To* Reed Ps* Total
No. of culms 13003843 (95.50) 303835 (2.23) 16000 (0.11) 98440 (0.72) 188434 (1.38) 8360 (0.06) 13618912 (100)
Weight (tonnes) 326736 3767 405 486 262 46 331702

(Bb)* Bambusa Bambos,
(Bv)* Bambusa Vulgaris,
(Ds)* Dendrocalamus Strictus,
(To)* Thyrsostachys Oliveri,
(Ps)* Pseudoxytenanthera Stocksii

BAMBOO – in Kerala Forests

Stock of Bamboo in Different Regions of Forests in Kerala
Circle Total Area (km2) Bamboo Stock (Dry) (Tonnes) Yearly Availability (Tonnes) Per Cent
Northern Region 1,522. 74 807,151.00 67,262.59) 30.68
Olavakode Region 2,230. 98 895,130.80 74,594.25 34.03
Central Region 1,723. 79 234,205.70 19,517.15 8.91
High Range Region 2,820. 51 122,726.80 10,227.23 4.66
Southern Region 12,828. 44 571,232.00 47,602.67 21.72
Total 11,126.46 2,630,446.3 16000 (0.11) 100.00

PROCESSING OF BAMBOO SHOOTS

Macronutrients (g/100 g fresh weight), and HCN content (ppm) in the freshly harvested, overnight soaked and pressure cooked shoots of Dendrocalamus asper
Species/Processing method Moisture Ash Fat Protein Carbohydrate Crude fibre HCN
Fresh shoots 0.92 0.93 0.020 1.66 7.63 1.57 1812.72
Overnight soaked shoots 0.93 0.93 0.019 1.64 6.92 1.56 968.35
Pressure cooked shoots 0.92 0.93 0.018 1.61 7.62 1.56 354.29