PBF to set up P20M bamboo nursery in NegOr

By Jennifer C. Tilos

Sunday 1st of July 2012

DUMAGUETE CITY, July 1 (PIA) --The Philippine Bamboo Foundation (PBF) is now setting up the biggest bamboo nursery in the Visayas and Mindanao in Dauin, Negros Oriental.

PBF Sr. Project Director Herbie Teodoro said the nursery is a joint collaboration with Buglas Bamboo Institute with a total investment of P20 million for the production of at least 400,000 propagules.

Teodoro said that while Negros Oriental is the center of the Visayas and proximity to Mindanao it also has more than 30 species of bamboo variety that thrive well in Negros Oriental, thus, the bamboo nursery is being established in Dauin town.

The PBF bamboo nursery will also conduct in-house training seminars on how to professionally create and manage bamboo plantation for the interested bamboo growers, said Teodoro.

“These training will also be incorporated with other sustainable agricultural practices such as intercropping vegetables with bamboo to serve as cash crop,” he added.

While bamboo propagation also mitigates the impact of climate change, PBF president Ed Manda, in his visit to Dauin nursery said more than 27,000 hectares of barren military camps in Luzon will be converted into bamboo forests.

Manda said aside from providing sufficient forest cover and soil erosion control, bamboo plantations give decent source of livelihood and food for the communities.

Bamboo is known as the world's tallest grass and yet it is one of the most durable materials for building, a multipurpose plant with great environmental and economic values, said Manda.

It is noted that bamboo matures in three to five years and survives for the next 30 years. Due to its extremely high bending strength, bamboo can be made into plywood. It is as good as the solid wood of high-density commercial timbers. (mbcn/JCT/PIA-Negros Oriental)