Inaugurating 22 bamboo clusters in 9 States on Tuesday, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar said India is gearing up to increase export of bamboo products.
These clusters were inaugurated in the states of Gujarat, MP, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Karnataka. A logo for the National Bamboo Mission was also released on the occasion.
Addressing the video conference, Tomar said that the use of bamboo has been an ancient tradition in India and it is now being supported with modern technology. Youth are also being given training for the bamboo industry.
Keeping in consideration the importance of bamboo, the Indian Forest Act 1927 was amended in the year 2017 to remove bamboo for the category of trees, as a result now anyone can undertake cultivation and business in bamboo and its products.
Saying that the Import policy has also been modified to ensure progress of the bamboo industry in the country, the Minister called upon the States to take forward the objectives of the Mission which would contribute to an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat through an Aatma Nirbhar Krishi.
With the wealth of bamboo in India and growing industry, India should aim to establish herself in global markets for both engineered and handcrafted products, felt Tomar.
The restructured National Bamboo Mission was launched in 2018-19 for holistic development of the complete value chain of the sector. The Mission is being implemented in a hub (industry) and spoke model, with the main goal of connecting farmers to markets.
The bamboo ecosystem has been energized with 23 States being assisted, including all the 8 States of the North East. Assam has already engaged FPOs for raising plantations. New FPOs will also be formed under the recently approved scheme of DACFW for formation of 10,000 FPOs in 5 years.
Together with industrial products, the National Bamboo Mission also endeavors to upgrade skills of traditional bamboo craftsmen as per requirement of contemporary markets with tie up with enterprises and premier institutes so that our cultural heritage is continued.
The winner of the logo contest, Shri Sai Ram Goudi Edigi of Telengana was selected from 2033 entries received on MyGov platform from across the country. The logo portrays a bamboo culm in the center of a circle composed of half an industrial wheel and half farmers, depicting the objectives of NBM appropriately. The green and yellow colour of the logo symbolise bamboo often termed as green gold.