Bamboo and Monocultures

[Mark Meckes]

Corn, wheat, rice, oats, rye, barley, sorghum, sugarcane, lawns ... bamboo
All these plants have one thing in common.
They are all members of the grass family (Gramineae)

History reveals that our transition from the hunter-gatherers of ancient times to an agricultural society and modern day civilization is attributed to the selective breeding of higher yielding grains, which enabled longer storage of food for humans and live-stock. This helped overcome seasonal and weather related shortages, and gave more time towards creative pursuits such as the arts and sciences etc.

Globally, with the exception of the bamboos, grass crops serve as our primary source for food, forage, feedstock, and also provide 'outdoor carpeting' for recreational spaces.
This has resulted in the uprooting and replacement of many plant ecosystem across vast regions of the earth.
This was made possible through technical advances aided by the industrial revolution and the use of fossil fuels that are used as the source of fertilizer and energy.

Increasing dependence on fossil fuels, faced with looming shortages in coming decades and ever growing consumption is resulting in the conversion of agricultural land into fuel farms and fiber composite factories for building materials from these grass species.

Till the present time, bamboo has not been a significant economic crop for 'western civilizations' due to the following reasons:
- Few or no bamboo species are native to the USA (1) Europe (0) Australia (1?) New Zealand (O) etc.
Though many bamboo species were introduced up to a hundred or more years ago they never attained the status of being a plant of great economic importance.
- Bamboo is a perennial plant and requires different cultivation, management and harvesting techniques then other crops.

However various bamboo species are well known for being high yield and fast growing, and can be converted into paper, fibers, composites, laminated board and fuels etc. and is being promoted as a viable renewable crop for industrial applications.

But the industrialization of bamboo could just add to our reliance on a few select species within the grass family.
Monocultures pose one of the greatest threats to society and leave us vulnerable to species extinction and pestilence outbreaks etc.
Fortunately industry has been slow to adopt bamboo into mainstream industrial applications.

[ShmuBamboo]

Well, I have found that there is a bamboo ceiling here in the US of A. Good, bad or otherwise, there is and has been a heavy stigma against bamboo where I have lived. My brother that is way into bamboo has noticed it as well. My other borther is an anti-bamboo type. "It will take over!" "It will grow under the foundation of your house and heave it!" "It will ruin your landscaping!" "It is impossible to get rid of it!" "It is an invasive weed!"

The locals where we live are all pretty dead set against bamboo. They think my girlfriend is crazy to let me grow it here. But she sees the giant stands at the boo plantations and nurseries that I drag her to and she gets it. Great stuff. Fast growing. Looks great. Deer proof. Heardy, drought toperant, frost resistant, evergreen, and did I mention that it is deer proof?

Anyway, I think that the anti-bamboo stigma around here goes back to WWII and the association between bamboo and Japan. We had it growing in our yard as a kid in Portland and we liked it. It was a great screening plant. Easy to grow, even for kids taking care of a yard. Hard to kill. But the neighbors there did not like it, and complained about us growing it. When I lived in Los Gatos, CA my landlord complained about the neighbor's bamboo that kept growing under the fence. I tried to encourage it to come over so I could dig the rhizomes and pot it up. He would come by and kill it though. He wanted it dead. He hated the stuff with a passion. I think he was a WWII vet. He asked me if I knew how to kill it. I did, but said I did not know how. The side yard that it was growing into was just dead grass. Bad place for plants, shaded with pine and fir needle litter coving the ground all winter, and the far point in the yard that was hard to water. Bamboo would have been perfect for that area. But it was not to be.

Anyway, while there are bamboo fans here in the western US, there still seem to be far more bamboo haters. The paradigm or stigma seems... odd. But it remains. People come to the house here and either say nothing, or sneer, or make some comment about the negative aspects of bamboo.

[EarthWyzard]

I just planted my first bamboo plant in a 65 acre plot of land that I stand to inherit within the next 10 years or so. I planted Moso, but don't really have a commercial use for it as yet. I can see how industrializing a single species could be detrimental though. Personally I'm using it as a long term land acquisition strategy. This land is in the middle of livestock farmland and the neighboring pastures are huge as well. I want my bamboo grove to completely overtake my plot and grow into the neighboring land, possibly lowering the perceived value of it. Of course, being a bamboo lover, I would not see a lower value, but it would probably ruin the land for cattle raising and since I'm a vegetarian I'm oddly ok with that hehe. The only reason I even want the land is to extend my grove and have an enormous haven for bamboo lovers to come and visit it. I'm sure I will start adding more species as the years pass.

[ShmuBamboo]

Moso is a good timber bamboo. It gets really huge.

Now plant Phy. nigra Henon, Phy. auroesulcatas, Phy. bambusoides, and some other timber types there.

[EarthWyzard]

I was thinking of black bamboo next. I love the look of it and it gets to a pretty reasonable size too I think. Thanks for the other suggestions, too though.

[CaroleMeckes]

Hello EarthWyzard and Wel'culm' to the Bamboo Forums.

Don't overlook Phyllostachys viridis as a good bamboo for central Texas.
Out of all the different Phyllostachys that Kinder Chambers planted in Buckholts, TX the Phyllostachys viridis has grown the largest culms.

http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/550/thumbs/PviridisChBTX040529-022.jpg (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=4828)

You might want to arrange for a visit with Kinder to see what some of the different bamboo look like in central Texas. He started planting bamboo in the 1990's.

Carole