Today, Indian bamboo industry is considered the second-largest in all over the world after China. More than 2 million Indian households sustain themselves on bamboo craft, while about 8 million households depend on it all across the globe. Thus, bamboo has emerged as a strategic raw material for offering multiple benefits to disadvantaged rural areas and communities, especially, rural women & Indigenous People.

Bamboo has been a pan-Asian symbol of civilization and an integral part of Indian culture. It is a multipurpose fast growing agro-forestry crop. Bamboos can be harvested annually and non-destructively and require minimum capital investment. They build upon the inherent plant cultivation skills of local farmers & foresters. Bamboos grow more rapidly in comparison to trees and start to yield within 4-5 years of planting.

Access and control over natural resources is the key to the well being of rural communities & Indigenous People. However, deforestation, environmental degradation & abandonment of food farming for the sake of cash cropping under the pulls of globalization have by now seriously decreased the resource base of most rural occupational groups, threatening their livelihood security. The substitution of traditional small-scale commodity production based on locally available agro-based raw materials with the factory system of production has caused much unemployment, especially amidst the rural artisan communities.

We at Kalpetta Bamboo Cluster have a vision to re-establish bamboo handicraft as a sustainable source of employment and income for the rural people.

Kalpetta Bamboo Cluster will establish a niche market for bamboo products at both domestic and international levels by the year 2011. The producer groups will be equipped to become competitive and self-reliant through improvements in technology, skills and human resources. The Common Facilities Centre (CFC) being established under the project will have facilities for scientific storage, treatment and regular supply of bamboos to user groups. The CFC will utilize various bamboo processing tools and machines and will play a pivotal role in enhancing the productivity of artisans. The cluster will have common means of marketing the products.

Reflecting the versatility of bamboo as a raw material for crafts and the rich heritage of crafts in the country, our range of bamboo handicraft products is wide and comprehensive :

• Bamboo Jewelry
• Bamboo Craft Products
• Bamboo Masks and Wall Hangings
• Office Desktop Accessories
• Bamboo Desktop Accessories
  
• Lamps and Shades
• Roll-Up Bamboo Blinds
• Vertical Bamboo Blinds
  
• Bags and File folders
• Dry Flowers
• Bamboo Kitchenware
• Bamboo Furniture
• Incense sticks
• Bamboo Shoot Pickle

With a large numbers of traditional uses, bamboo has been suitable described as the ‘green gold’, ‘poor man’s timber’, ‘friend of the people’ & ‘cradle to coffin timber’. Bamboo provides local solutions to several global challenges :

Ecological security :

Bamboo is a key element in maintaining the ecological balance in long run. A dense bamboo cover enriches the soil by preventing erosion and taming flash floods. Through timber substitution and alternative to non-biodegradable, it helps in conservation of forests. Its natural versatility is suitable to different environments.

Shelter security :

Bamboo provides shelter security through the provision of safe, secure, durable & affordable housing and community buildings. It provides pillars, walls, window frames, rafters, room separators, ceilings and roofs. Whole the structures can be built with bamboo using skills available with local artisans.

Food security :

Edible bamboo shoots offer food to animals and humans.

Livelihood security :

Bamboo provides employment in forms of planting, primary & secondary processing, construction, craft and the manufacture of several value added products. Each and every part of the bamboo can be used in rural livelihoods and industry viz. shoots for food, leaves for fodder and branches for making thousands of traditional products as well as a variety of new generation industrial products.

Our bamboo products are made with different species of bamboos and reed bamboos selectively harvested from homestead farms and public commons. The giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus) grown on certain private plantations in Wayanad is a special raw material used in making a number of products. Different species of bamboos known locally as Kallan (Dendrocalamus strictus), Illi (Bambusa bambos), Bilathi (Dendrocalamus brandisii), Pennoda (Ochlandra scriptoria), Oda (Ochlandra travancorica), are also used by the artisans in the cluster. Recently the Forest Department of the Government of Kerala has also permitted Uravu to extract 100 MT of reeds and 470 MT of bamboos from the forests in Wayanad for use by the cluster artisans.

Realizing the need to generate adequate bamboo resources in non-forest areas in the district, Uravu has included activities aimed at replenishing the stock through participatory planting programs in the cluster program. Since 1998, Uravu has been supplying planting materials of various species of bamboos developed at the Uravu Bamboo Nursery to local farmers.

Exotic bamboo species such as Guadua angustifolia and Melocanna baccifera have been recently introduced in Wayanad, the former showing good prospects in field trials. Efforts are on to introduce new species of bamboos such as Pseudoxytenanthera stocksii, Bambusa balcoa, Bambusa nutans, etc.

Features :

The salient features of our bamboo products, which make them most coveted amongst our clients are enlisted below :

• Use of non-forest bamboo
• Innovative designs
• Superior finishes
• Treated against borers

Our manufacturing process is implemented in a decentralized manner in Micro Enterprises & SHGs located in different panchayats in Wayanad district. The Common Facilities Center (CFC) in Thirkkaipetta village plays a crucial role in primary processing and supply of raw materials to the different manufacturing units as well as in the final finishing of products. This center is well equipped with bamboo processing machines and treatment systems.

More than 300 women artisans and producers, who are the members of Micro Enterprises and Self-Help-Groups (SHGs) form the core of the human resource of Kalpetta Bamboo Cluster. Belonging to different social groups including the indigenous peoples and the scheduled caste traditional artisans, they represent the marginalized and economically disadvantaged people.