National Bamboo Mission

Considering the vast untapped potential of the bamboo sector, the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has implemented the National Bamboo Mission (NBM). This scheme was launched as a sub-scheme of Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH). The principal objective of implementing this scheme is to employ the rural economy and to double the farmers’ income. In this article, we will look at the National Bamboo Mission in detail. Know more about the Tripura Bamboo Mission (TBM)

Objective of the National Bamboo Mission

The National Bamboo Mission aims to increase the area under bamboo plantation in non-forest land to supplement farm income and contribute towards the resilience to climate change and the availability of quality raw material requirement of industries.

To improve the post-harvest management through the establishment of innovative primary bamboo processing units near the source of production, primary treatment and seasoning bamboo plant, preservation technology and market infrastructure.
To promote the product development by considering the market demand, by assisting R&D, entrepreneurship and business models at micro, small and medium levels and feed more significant industry.
To rejuvenate the underdeveloped bamboo industry in our country
To promote skill development, awareness generation, capacity building for the development of the bamboo sector from production to market demand.
To realign efforts to reduce dependency on import of Bamboo and products by improved productivity and suitability of domestic raw material for industry, to enhance the income of the primary producers.

Importance of Bamboo Sector

India is one of the net importers of Bamboo. It means that there are more significant opportunities to harness the market potential by increasing its production and ensuring the establishment of a proper value chain ecosystem In most of the hilly States of India, Bamboo is used as construction material, besides, having a potential niche market in other countries as well with various traditional. Bamboo has an ever-increasing range of applications in industries like construction, furniture, textile, food, energy production, herbal medicine. This is especially important from the potential of bamboo-based livelihoods and employment for rejuvenating the rural economy and doubling of farmers’ income.

States/ Districts covered

The National Bamboo Mission will focus on development of Bamboo in limited States where it has social, commercial and economic advantage, particularly in the North Eastern region and States including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The bamboo mission is expected to establish about 4000 product development units and bring more than 100000 hector area under plantation during the period 2018-19 & 2019-20.

Policies - National Bamboo Mission

To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the National Bamboo Mission will adopt the following policies:

Adopt a coordinated approach covering the production and marketing to assure appropriate returns to growers or producers.
Promote Research and Development (R&D) and technologies for enhanced production.
Enhance the acreage and productivity of Bamboo through change and improved agriculture practice.
Promote the cooperatives and self-help groups to ensure support and adequate returns to farmers.
Promote partnership, convergence and synergy among R&D and marketing agencies
To generate employment opportunities
Set up National, State level structures, to ensure adequate returns for the produce of the farmers and eliminate middlemen, to the extent possible.

Key elements of the National Bamboo Mission

The critical aspects of the National Bamboo mission are listed as follows:

Research and Development
Plantation infrastructure development
Production of Planting Material
- Area expansion under Bamboo
- Improvement of Existing Stock
- Technology Transfer & HRD
- Pest and disease management of Bamboo
- Creation of Water resources
Innovative Interventions
Post-harvest storage and treatment facilities for Bamboo
Establishment of marketing infrastructure

Bamboo Technical Support Group (BTSG)

Bamboo Technical Support Group (BTSG) is a National Level Agency. It will be set up to provide necessary technical support to the Mission. BTSG will have the following functions:

To visit the partner States frequently to give guidance in the Mission, organizational and technical matters advice appropriate species of Bamboo well suited to the region
Synergise inter-sectoral interaction for innovations
To compile materials for the conduct of regional workshops in respect of handicraft, Bamboo plantations, product development, bamboo marketing and Bamboo exports
To conduct studies on different aspects of the development of the bamboo sectors
To assist the States in organizing capacity building programme
To undertake publicity campaigns to promote the bamboo mission objectives
To document and disseminate case studies
To conduct specialized Training Programmes at the Regional Level

Note: The BTSGs will be funded by the NBM and report to the National Bamboo Mission Cell

Preparation of Action Plan and Approvals

States will have to prepare a comprehensive Action Plan envisaging all interventions under the National Bamboo Mission for five years. The Annual Action Plan will be area based, premised on the existing potential for bamboo development, needed infrastructure for implementation and monitoring, allocation of funds under NBM and capacity to absorb the funds in taking up activities. Format for submission of Annual Action Plan for the National Bamboo Mission is provided here: [pdf-embedder url="https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/NBM_Guidelines_New-34-37.pdf"] Funds will be made available to the respective States after approval of the action plan by the Executive Committee. The State Governments will endeavour to release the Central funds share immediately to the anchoring Department at a rapid pace. For particular R&D activities, if given to any national Institutes functioning under any Central Ministry, financial support will be given directly to the Institutes on the recommendation of the concerned Department.

Funding Pattern

The funding pattern for the National Bamboo Mission will be 60:40 between Centre and State Government for all States excepting Northeast and Hilly states, where it will be 90:10 and 100% in case of Union Territories (UT), R&D Institutes, Bamboo Technology Support Groups (BTSGs) and National Level Agencies. The pattern of the assistance of major activities is provided in the document: [pdf-embedder url="https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/NBM_Guidelines_New-30-33.pdf"] For Cooperatives sectors, the Central Funding component will be routed through NCDC as the Nodal Agencies. The States can avail loans from NCDC for funding their requirements of State Share for the Cooperative sector.