How are these students making useful products from bamboo and waste wood? Special conversation with Dr. Mohammad Nasir

Bamboo and waste wood: Saving forests is very important for environmental protection and this thing has been understood well by the environmentalists as well as the government. That is why emphasis is being laid on promoting products made from bamboo so that indiscriminate cutting of forests can be stopped and people get eco-friendly products.

The students of Forestry College of Banda Agricultural Technology University of Uttar Pradesh are working to take this campaign of the government forward. Assistant Professor of Vaniki Mahavidyalaya (College of Forestry) Dr. Mohammad Nasir talked in detail to Kisan of India correspondent Sarvesh Bundeli about how the students here are making beautiful artifacts and everyday use items from bamboo and waste wood and how this will help them become self-reliant.

College of Forestry is making students self-reliant

Assistant Professor of Vaniki Mahavidyalaya of Banda Agricultural and Technology University, Dr. Mohammad Nasir says that there are different types of courses in his college. One of these courses is Forest Product Utilization Program, as the name suggests, in this course children are taught to use the forest products properly.

In the third year of this 4-year undergraduate course, students are made to do practicals and under a special program, all the facilities and things are provided to them so that they can make their own product. Children become self-reliant through this practice. The advantage of this is that if they do not want to do a job in future, they can start their own business.

Dr. Nasir says that the purpose of this course of Vaniki Mahavidyalaya is to make children self-reliant. Under this course, children are told how the produce obtained from the forest can be used.

Full focus is on bamboo

Dr. Nasir says that their entire focus is on making different types of products from bamboo. Actually, the bamboo plant grows very quickly. Therefore, it can be cut and used in 3 years, whereas the rest of the trees in the forest mature in 20-30 years. Therefore, the forest and environment can be saved by using more bamboo. The government also wants to save the forest, so it is promoting the use of bamboo.

In fact, in 2017, the government put bamboo in the Non Forest Product Category. That is, earlier you could not cut a tree and take it out of the forest, which caused a lot of problems, but now bamboo has been removed from this category. It can be easily cut from the forest and taken away and can now be easily transported.

Making bamboo products is easy

Professor Nasir says that compared to other woods, it is easy to make things from bamboo. It can be easily made with small hand tools. Actually, bamboo is very light and it is also easy to cut and trim. Women can also start their own small scale industry by making it easily at home.

Beautiful use of useless wood

Professor Nasir told that his students have made very beautiful and creative things even from broken and rotten useless trees. Students have made benches for sitting from waste wood material. Professor Nasir further said that he also has an idea to make an outdoor park outside the college, in which things made from waste material will be kept, so that people will know how parks and houses can be decorated even with waste wood. This will reduce waste.

Will start a special course for farmers

Dr. Nasir says that his university is going to start diploma and certificate courses to use waste wood in a creative way, in which training will be given to make different things from bamboo and waste material.

Bamboo thrives in all types of climate

One of the specialties of bamboo is that it grows easily in all types of climate. You will find bamboo everywhere from North-East India to Rajasthan. Many things like toilet paper, bamboo flooring, bamboo toothbrush, bamboo thread, paper, bamboo sheets, towels, bottles, bamboo charcoal bags, toiletries, bamboo clothes can be made from bamboo. 

Some important facts about bamboo

Bamboo has a very high carbon absorption capacity. It is not infested with insects, so there is no need to use pesticides. This keeps the soil quality good.

It also helps in preventing soil erosion and is also helpful in making barren land productive.

Bamboo may look like a tree, but it is actually a fast-growing grass that matures in just 3 years.

The tree can grow up to 130 feet tall. The height of the tree depends on its different varieties.

It can prove to be an excellent alternative to single-use plastic.

Bamboo products mix with the soil after being thrown away, which means it does not generate any kind of waste.

The Bamboo cultivation does not cost much and neither does it require much care.

Bamboo is cultivated and bamboo is available from one tree for about 40 years. The government also gives subsidy on this crop.

No special type of soil is required for bamboo cultivation. It can also be planted on the boundary of the field. By doing this, the temperature of the field remains low and it can also be protected from animals.

National Bamboo Mission is a multi-purpose scheme from farming to marketing. This scheme has been started with the objective of promoting bamboo development in Uttar Pradesh, developing new varieties, encouraging research, setting up high-tech nurseries, pest and disease management in plants, promoting bamboo handicrafts, increasing the income of bamboo producers, creating a marketing network for bamboo products and providing raw material.