Hi All,
I am a newcomer to the group. Thanks to Garg Ji for allowing me to become a member of this very educative forum.
Those who are interested to know a bit more about the gregarious flowering of Bamboo that had perhaps prompted the emergence of an unprecedented socio-political movement in Mizoram back in early sixties can consider seeing a documentary film named 'WHEN THE BAMBOO FLOWERS' produced by ANIMAL PLANET.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see what the gregarious flowering of Bamboo means while setting up the filming in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in 2004-05 on behalf of ANIMAL PLANET.The most interesting part was to know about how the phenomenon is associated with food security of the locals due to the prolific growth of Rodent population feeding on the fallen Bamboo fruits and eventually raiding the grain stores in the villages.It is believed by the locals that such a phenomenon repeats in every 45-50 years cycle.I had met a group of Japanese Scientists in Mizoram who also had come then to check the situation and to record scientific data.
I was later surprised to see Bamboo flowering in some of the villages in Assam as recently as in 2008 although it could be described as sporadic. Such sporadic flowering was also reported to have been occurred in many other places in Central and Western India(I have photos captured in Kanha by a friend from Pune).
It would be of course of much interest to know more about the mystery since many of our rural communities depend much on Bamboo plant, and the GOI has a 'Bamboo Mission' programme that aims at reducing the consumption of wood by encouraging Bamboo products as a better alternative.
In Nagaland I have seen as to how Bamboo charcoal is being used on experimental basis as a solution to the problem concerning inadequate supply of LPG/conventional energy, but I do not know if it is a local decision or not.
I would also be very keen to know from my fellow members of the forum if the past/ recent gregarious/sporadic flowering had/has affected the Red Pandas/ Giant Pandas or not
Pardon my ignorance , if any.
Best,
Asit Biswas
www.helptourism.com
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