National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA)

The provision of employment and opportunity has been accorded the highest priority in the agenda of the Government of India, and in the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP).
The National Mission on Bamboo Applications, structured as a Technology Mission, is one of the key initiatives of the Department of Science & Technology for the Tenth Plan.
The National Mission on Bamboo Applications has been tasked with creating the basis for enlarging the bamboo sector, and with supporting the efforts of the Government of India towards augmenting economic opportunity, income and employment.
The Mission is mult i-disciplinary in its approach.
* Focused on value addition & commercialisation
* Develops, tests & disseminates technologies
* Supports demonstration & entrepreneurial projects
* A knowledge & technology network in action
Thrust Areas
Wood substitutes and composites
Wood substitutes and composites, including boards of varying descriptions and uses. They afford an opportunity to establish integrative models of economic activity – linking the organised and unorganised sectors and operating at differing levels of scale, enterprise and technology.
The Mission is carrying out a range of activities to develop and validate technologies, encourage entrepreneurial and community enterprise, test products and promote their usage and application.
Construction & structural applications
Advances in structural engineering and the development of bamboo composites have opened new vistas for lightweight, durable and aesthetic construction for a variety of applications, enabling informed choices for housing, community and functional structures.
The Mission supports application oriented research and developmental activity, utilising bamboo for constructional applications. It promotes the use of bamboo and bamboo based composite material and innovation with different construction techniques. It sets benchmarks of quality of construction, functionality, strength and safety and aesthetics.
Agro-processing
Bamboo shoots carry the potential of value added economic activity at the entrepreneurial and community level through cultivation, processing and packaging. Working with laboratories, testing facilities, technology developers, communities and entrepreneurs, the Mission is developing mechanisms, methodologies and markets to encourage entrepreneurs to take up the processing of bamboo shoot for the market.
Machinery & process technologies
Critical to the enlargement of the bamboo sector is the development of machinery, and equipment suited to Indian bamboo, and of process technologies for the growing range of products and applications.
The Mission is working to develop ranges of efficient, sturdy and low-cost tooling and processing machinery, suited to Indian conditions and species, to reduce drudgery, improve productivity and minimise wastage. Process technologies are being validated, and converted to techno-economic packages for use by entrepreneurs.
Propagation & cultivation
Despite India’s wealth of bamboo resources, a constraint inhibiting the development of value added enterprise is that of sourcing adequate raw material at reasonable prices. In most application areas there is a need for quality material, defined by species, maturity, bamboo characteristics, harvesting technique and post-harvest treatment. The Mission is developing, demonstrating & encouraging intensive and scientific cultivation practices for higher productivity.
Good quality plant material and in sufficient quantity is a necessary condition if a large scale programme of high yielding plantation is to be taken up. Bamboo seeds are available infrequently, and at long intervals, and traditional vegetative propagation practices will not suffice to meet the quality and quantity aspects of such a programme. The Mission is developing improved propagation practices, and identifying and establishing a network of suppliers of plant material, including of tissue cultured material of important species of bamboo.
Bamboo for energy
Gasification of bamboo can produce energy and a range of valuable by-products. It reinforces a commitment to clean and renewable electricity and thermal energy. It can utilise waste generated by processing operations, substitute the use of fossil fuels, and lower operating costs. The Mission promotes the induction of gasifiers using bamboo and bamboo waste to generate electricity and thermal energy, especially in off-grid and remote locations, and to meet captive industry and utility needs.
Industrial products
Bamboo is amazingly versatile – and even bamboo processing ‘waste’ is an excellent source material for high grade charcoal and activated carbon. The Mission is testing and establishing technologies to enable the manufacture of charcoal and activated carbon to be taken up at different scales of economic activity.
Product applications - small enterprise
The Mission is working to establish integrative models of small scale enterprise, providing technology support, developing machinery and tooling, and encouraging design and product diversification.
Supporting the sector
Developing and disseminating a corpus of information and knowledge is the first step on the road to change. The Mission has taken up a series of assessment, documentation and knowledge-gathering exercises. Information is collated and reviewed, and then disseminated in user-friendly formats.
For more information, contact NMBA at
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