Bamboo, "GREEN GOLD", an important versatile economically important natural resource, is  found in abundance in the homestead farms and the forest worldwide, with innumerable uses and many environmental benefits. Improving the availability of information on bamboos is an important step towards the development of sustainable utilization and conservation for this valuable renewable environmentally friendly resource, not only in its natural habitats, but also wherever it is cultivated throughout the world. Bamboos are easy to grow, and easy to fell, split and make into innumerable products, from chopsticks to houses, from food to fish traps and hunting spears, from the cradle to the coffin. The great diversity of species makes bamboo adaptable to many environments and  they are highly palatable to man, domestic animals, and wildlife. Essential crops for Asian and Latin American communities since the start of human civilizations, they now offer an alternative to the destruction of rainforests and depletion of carbon sinks by offering a fast-growing (than woods) renewable timber and tree cellulose substitute. It tolerates extreme precipitation from 32-50 inches annual rainfall.

Bamboo is known as worlds best engineering material. Due to its high tensile strength compared to teak wood and mild steel. They can be grown for processing into beautiful flooring, high quality paper and soft bamboo clothing. They are also strong contenders for large-scale biomass crop cultivation, for the production of renewable carbon-neutral energy and biofuels. Its biological characteristics make it a perfect tool for reducing carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere. It generates more O2 than equivalent strands of trees, protect against  UV rays and is an atmospheric and soil purifier. On the other hand, bamboo identification is usually far from easy. It is often unkind even to the expert, and the literature usually looks indigestible and frightening. The growing requirements of different species vary enormously. The intrinsic characteristics of different species that give them their individual aesthetic appeal, or make them suitable for any of the thousands of uses to which they can be put will obviously also vary. Therefore it is important to have a reliable and consistent system of names, so that the best species can be selected for growing in the right environment for a purpose to which it is well suited. Bamboo finds its importance in therapeutic world (chawanprash) because of high antioxidant properties and nutrient values (high flavin and phenolic compounds) , low in fat, high in edible fibers and rich in mineral.

WHY BAMBOO infoline !

International network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) has developed 2 databases, which can get a better understanding of bamboo trade and trade development, but there is no such database available that can give a proper information regarding this "GREEN GOLD".

So the contributors has emphasized to develop a scientific database with academic and social values as per regional needs. Moreover, it was hoped that it would make the collection of publications infinitely more accessible, and this has been borne out by a very extensive list of visitors.

Most information on this site is freely available for reasonable non-commercial, non-advertising use, especially for bamboo lovers in general and scientific community in particular. As long as the source is cited, but intellectual property rights are protected, and all content is copyright  University of North Bengal and Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College For Women. This database will be timely updated with more scientific values.