The New Green Gold of the Poor Farmers Bamboo Cultivation for a Sustained Livelihood

Abstract

Bamboo, often referred to as the wonder wood has attracted the attention of people in different walks of like including farmers, researchers, policy makers because of its versatile use, income generating potentiality, and environmental friendliness. India is home for a number of species of bamboo and it grows across the country. Though farmers face hardship and struggle to find a consistent source of income, the potentiality of bamboo to provide a sustainable livelihood is still underutilized. One of the reason for farmers to take up bamboo farming is because they lack sufficient data to estimate its economic viability. This paper is an attempt to examine the economic viability of bamboo farming and an attempt to estimate the cost and income generating capacity of bamboo cultivation.