KOCHI: Against the backdrop of recent natural calamities, scientists and soil experts are mooting bamboo cultivation to check landslides, mud slips and soil piping. These events, reported in many places across the state, had caused deaths apart from destruction to land and property.According to an initial post-flood survey done by Kerala Forest Research Institute, bamboo clumps planted on banks of Bharatapuzha survived even in spots where the floodwaters flowed as high as three to four metre above the ground level. Bamboo plantations can act as a natural buffer that conserves the soil when such disasters strike. “In North-east India and in the Himalayan foothills of Sivalik range of mountains, bamboos have played a major stabilizing role. We have seen its results in Chalakudy-Sholayar belt,” said Syam Vishwanath, director, KFRI-Peechi.Bamboos can be easily grown in riverine habitats and is a cost-effective method to check erosion as they can withstand damage due to floods. It is effective for brackish waters and can check coastal inundation.The flooding of river in Palakkad resulted in property loss and human casualty. “Bambusa bambos is a thorny bamboo species native to South-East Asia and is very sturdy and used as structural support in house construction, furniture making etc. It is suitable for planting in erosion-prone areas, especially along the river banks, owing to its extensive fibrous root system,” said A V Raghu, scientist-extension department, KFRI.Large-scale planting of Bambusa bamboos was carried out along the banks of Bharathapuzha and its tributaries from 2007 - 2011 as a part of ‘Green the gap programme’ organized by the local-self government department (LSGD) in coordination with agriculture department, KFRI and various NGOs in Palakkad.“Majority of these plants failed to survive due to lack of proper monitoring and management leaving only less than 20% which were originally planted. These survived the floods,” Raghu said.KFRI director said that proper bamboo management that includes regular trimming of shoots is needed to ensure that they remain sturdy at the root-level.“In Thrissur, we found that places which had bamboo didn’t experience events like soil piping. Those that had soil piping were in areas that had trees like Acacia,” said M A Sudheer Babu, soil conservation officer, Thrissur.

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