This article describes in detail the benefits of growing the bamboo plant for profit making purposes, and its related aspects like market scope and cultivation.
Bamboo is an evergreen and woody grass variety, and it belongs to the Poaceae family. It is the fastest growing plant in the world, and has around 1000 species. This plant is found in different parts such as East Asia, Northern Australia, sub-Saharan Africa, United States, Chile, and Argentina.
The fast growth of this plant makes it a good crop to be cultivated for profit. It can grow around 60 cm in a single day. The fastest growth that has been measured till date is 121 cm in a day.
Climate and Soil: A temperature of 60º Fahrenheit is most suitable for the growth of bamboo plants. They need support, and hence clayey soil is suitable for their cultivation. Thus, bamboo shouldn't be cultivated in sandy soil. A well-drained soil prevents the plant from getting over-watered, which may cause the bacterial infection of rhizoids, and subsequent rotting and decaying.
Plantation: If the bamboo shoots are planted at a proper distance, i.e., 21 - 30 feet apart, they can provide you with excellent profit, as their growth is in a proper manner. There is no need to spend much for the maintenance of this plant. It is another reason, which makes bamboo cultivation a profitable practice. The planting material needed for bamboo cultivation are the shoots, along with ring-shaped nodes present on them in an encircling manner.
Cultivation: The plants that are cultivated for wood do not need much fertilizers and sunlight. However, if the plant is cultivated for selling the shoots, enough nourishment has to be provided. The use of tools for their cultivation has reduced the related cost to a great extent. Thus, the earlier form of cultivation that was labor intensive has become much more mechanized.
Scope of Farming
There are many benefits of growing bamboo, which makes its cultivation a profitable affair. The amount of timber that this grass variety produces per unit land is greater than any other plants, nearly by about 20 times. It is possible to grow bamboo on a degraded land. Cultivation of this plant for wood is quite profitable because of its fast growth. Most of the hardwood species from the tropical regions require around 30 years to mature completely. However, bamboo doesn't need more than 3 - 4 years to grow from the time it is planted. Nowadays, automated machines are being used for the processing of its timber. The time required for this activity has reduced greatly over time. Thus, the demand for bamboo has risen in comparison to earlier days. The international demand for bamboo is increasing at a fast pace. Countries like Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Korea import it on a large-scale.
Markets for Cultivators
Bamboos could be used for many purposes, and one can make profit by selling various products made from this plant. Fresh shoots are used for edible purposes, and selling them for usage as foodstuffs could turn out to be highly profitable. The wood obtained from this plant is also used as construction material. The use of bamboo flooring is a common practice in many countries. Thus, one should target this section of the market and try to gain profits. Bamboo rugs are also used in many homes.
