Dense planting of bamboo on the banks of the Yamuna, he says will not only absorb CO2 but also bring down particulate matter. The plant is an “excellent scavenger,” he says; its roots do not go below two feet, so it can absorb rich nutrients in raw sewage that flow untreated into the Yamuna and raise its biological oxygen demand. During the monsoon, the clumps will slow the flow and reduce the chances of flooding downstream. Submergence does not affect the plants. There will be economic benefits in the form of employment and income. Namby says Infosys has planted 30 acres of bamboo in Bangalore, to reduce its carbon footprint. I have not studied the pro and cons, but Namby’s idea needs serious study 

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Bamboo can growth in dryland areas, but it yields best when well-irrigated. Bamboo requires the same amount of water as sugarcane, about 10-20 litres per day per plant. Conventionally, about 200 of them are planted per acre. In medium density planting, the number rises to 500 and, in high-density planting, the number is doubled to 1,000 plants per acre.

To reduce water and fertiliser consumption, Namby advises a drip system for both irrigation and supply of soluble fertiliser. According to him, the initial cost is Rs 14.39 lakh per10 acres for land preparation, soil improvement, sinking a well, weeding, fencing, laying a drip system, ploughing, digging pits and installing an electrical pump. Fencing is important because wild boars find the juicy rhizomes a delicacy till they harden in couple of months. The cost per 10 acres rises from Rs 3.26 lakh in the second year to Rs 4.40 lakh in the fifth year and stabilises at that rate. The harvesting begins in the third year with 297 tonnes per 10 acre. Yields remain steady at 400 tonnes per 10 acres from the fifth year onwards. At Rs 4,000 a tonne (for sun-dried 15% moisture bamboo), Namby says the net income from such a plantation will be about Rs 70 lakh over 10 years. He says bamboo is more profitable than rice and sugarcane.

Namby manages a 5,000 acre bamboo plantation in Tamil-dominated Vavuniya in Sri Lanka to feed a power plant. He says it is a better alternative to coal. A kg of bamboo produces 4,000 kilocalories compared to 3,000-5,000 kcal for coal. The cost is comparable, he says, but bamboo has 1% ash content, compared to coal’s 10-30% which poses a problem of disposal. It also emits no sulphur. The government is keen to promote bamboo cultivation. On November 23, it issued an ordinance to dispense categorise cultivated bamboo as non-forest produce that can be transported without transit permits. Maharashtra has already stolen the march, in April. It is quite keen on promoting bamboo as a source of income for farmers. In August last year, it created the Maharashtra Bamboo Development Board (MBDB) for this purpose. India has the largest area under bamboo—11.4 million hectares, says TSK Reddy, the board’s managing director. But, as often is the case, China makes the most of it even though it has a smaller area15.4 million ha—under the “grass.”