Bamboo Cultivation Can Help Madhya Pradesh Tackle Climate Change, Global Warming: Expert

Bhopal: Maharashtra Agriculture Prices Commission chairperson Pasha Patel on Monday said he had suggested to the Madhya Pradesh government to promote bamboo cultivation to tackle climate change and global warming. The Maharashtra government had recently said it would provide support to small farmers for bamboo cultivation on 10 lakh hectares of land. Mr Patel said,

Humanity is facing the crisis of global warming and climate change. We can tackle it by cultivating bamboo, one tree (clump) of which can absorb 180 kilograms of carbon dioxide and release 320 kilograms of oxygen into the atmosphere.

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Mr Patel met MP agriculture minister Aidal Singh Kanshana two days ago. He added,

I have suggested to the MP government to take up bamboo cultivation in a big way.

Citing a study, he said all government thermal power generation units in the country release 5,90,000 MT of carbon per day into the atmosphere, adding bamboo can be an alternative to coal as a fuel for power generation. He claimed,

The calorific value of coal is 4,000 kcal/kg while that of other agri residue biomass is 2,200 to 2,500. So bamboo is beneficial for power generation as by burning it a cycle will be created in the atmosphere because of its unique ability of absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen.

He said the country’s requirement of biomass is 700 lakh MT, while at present only 2 lakh MT is being used, adding that this gap can only be addressed when bamboo cultivation is promoted in a big way.

Mr Kanshana appreciated the suggestion and issued directions to ensure it is implemented properly, Mr Patel said.

Like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh must also have commission to decide agriculture prices in the interest of farmers, Mr Patel added.

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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