GUWAHATI, Dec 8 ? Will the common bamboo species of the State and for that matter of the north eastern region of India, witness gregarious flowering soon? ?No, an emphatic No,? said Dr Chandra Barooah a scientist with the Assam Science Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC). Dr Barooah has done extensive study on the common bamboo species like the Jati and Bhaluka of the region. Barooah has obtained his Ph D from Gauhati University (GU) for his dissertation? Bamboos of Assam: Taxonomy and Distribution.
Together with his guide Prof S K Borthakur of the G U Botany Department, Dr Barooah has identified so far four new species of bamboo. Prof Borthakur and Dr Barooah have named these species as Bambusa rangaensis, Bambusa garuchokua, Bambusa barpatharica and Bambusa assamica.
Dr Barooah was more forceful when he made the observation that gregarious flowering would be witnessed only in the case of the Muli bamboo (Melocana baccifera) between 2004 and 2007. This species of the bamboo grows in the wild mostly in the hilly areas of southern part of the State and in neighbouring Mizoram. Of course, cultivation of the species is also witnessed in some parts of the State, he maintained.
It needs mention that in the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys of the State the bamboo species grown are mostly Jati, Jatia Makal, Bhaluka and Kotoha. According to Dr Barooah, statements on the phenomenon of bamboo flowering should be made with plenty of caution. People should be helped in understanding clearly which of the species of these grasses of the Bambusoideae Nees sub-family of the Gramineae or Poaceae will witness gregarious flowering. Or else, there is every chance of confusion leading the people into panic, he said. This may have a serious impact on the rural economy of this State, which is known for its backwardness, said Barooah.
Continuing, he said, flowering of bamboo was a rare and natural phenomenon and was either periodic or annual. It is either gregarious, sporadic or sometimes both. Habit of flowering in bamboos can be classified into three types, namely, annual flowering, gregarious and periodic flowering and irregular flowering, he said. Bambusa atra, Indocalamus wightanius and Ochlandra scriptoria have the habit of flowering annually or so. But these species are not indigenous to NE India and do not die after blossoming of their flowers. Bambusa arundinacea, B. polymorpha (that is, Betua Banh) and Melocanna baccifera (Muli) etc have the habit of gregarious or periodical flowering on a cycle of 25-70 years. These species? culms and clumps begin to die after flowering or seeding, Barooah said.
Irregularly flowering species are those like Dendrocalamus strictus (Sal Banh), D. hamiltonii(Paharia Kako) etc. In their cases, one or few culms in one clump or a few clumps in one locality flower at a time, while at other times all culms of one clump and all clumps of a region witness simultaneous flowering.
In case of a few species, such as Bambusa nutans (Jatia Makal), Schizostachyum pergracile (Medang Banh), it is seen that one or few culms of a clump flower. These flowering culms die after flowering or seeding, while the culms without flower of the same clump do no die. These culms are capable to give rise to the young culms, Barooah said.
There are reports of ten species of bamboo flowering in Assam during 1995-2000. During 1996- 1998, Dendrcalamus hamiltonii(Paharia Kako) flowered gregariously and the rest were found to be in sporadic flowering. Bambusa teres (that is, Bhaluki makal) appears to be significant in the sense that Hamilton collected this species only once in flowering stage in 1809 from Gongachora in North Bengal, said Dr Barooah.
Earlier records exhibit gregarious flowering, as the usual phenomenon for Bambusa tulda (Jati Banh) but the sporadic flowering of this species for Assam seems to be significant. Flowering of Bambusa multiplex (that is, Jupuri Banh), Dendrocalamus giganteus (that is, Kako Banh) and Schizostachyum polymorphum (that is, Nal / Bojal Banh) recorded for the first time from Assam in 1997.
The report of flowering of Bambusa balcooa(Bhaluka Banh) some time back in 1998, appears to be the only one from Assam since 1881 and 1889. Likewise, the report of flowering of Bambusa arundinacea and Schizostachyum pergracile appears to be the second one in 1974-1977, after 1936.
In some parts of Assam during 1974-1977 B. arundinacea flowered gregariously and the people consumed the grains of the bamboo. Consuming seeds of bamboo during flowering, rat population increases, which is also a natural phenomenon. People believe that there will be serious misfortune in that area where bamboos flower. As, this leads to increase in the rodent population, which has a tremendous adverse impact on the neighbouring agricultural fields as well as on the granaries, Barooah said. But only in the case of Muli and Paharia Kako grown mostly in the wild, connection of such a phenomenon of growth in the rodent population is witnessed so far, said Barooah.
It is worth mentioning here that the Rain forest Research Institute (RFRI), Jorhat has anticipated gregarious flowering of Muli bamboo between 2004-07 over an area of 18,000 sq kms in the States of Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya and in parts of Assam. Mizoram is identified by the RFRI as the epicentre of the phenomenon.
As per records, flowering of this very species of the bamboo led to famines in 1862, 1881,1911-12 and 1959. The 1959 famine claimed between 10,000 and 15,000 lives in Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and Barak Valley of Assam. Experts have by this time prepared estimates for allocation of funds from the Central Government to meet the challenge being thrown by Muli flowering. The financial support pleaded for the purpose is worth Rs 105 crore.