Defining growth, quality and biomass production of different bamboo species in central plains of Punjab

The present study was carried out at University Seed Farm Ladhowal, Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana, Punjab (India) with six bamboo species viz., Bambusa balcooa, Bambusa bambos, Bambusa nutans, Bambusa tulda, Bambusa vulgaris and Dendrocalamus strictus to estimate the growing biomass for adopting new bamboo species in agroforestry system. Growth measurements were directly taken from six year old plantation in field and destructive sampling method was adopted to estimate the quality and biomass potential of different species. Bambusa nutans was found best for clump diameter, culm diameter and inter-node length, whereas, Bambusa bambos showed superiority for clump height and Bambusa balcooa for number of culms per clump. The highest biomass was recorded in Bambusa nutans and lowest in Bambusa balcooa. The study revealed that elasticity was high in Bambusa balcooa, which may be suitable for bamboo handicrafts. Maximum fibre length was recorded in Dandrocalamus strictus, which is suitable for pulp industries, whereas, specific gravity was in Bambusa tulda, which could be suitable for construction purpose.