Chinese bamboo now in BSU

3 MIN READ

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Benguet State University (BSU) is now home to Chinese bamboo species arrived on May 31. Some 7,000 seedlings came directly from the province of Hang Zou, China.

The shipment loaded in a 40-footer container van consisted of 32 varieties of the Chinese Moso (phyllostachy heterocylla var. pubescens) bamboo species, donated to the Cordillera Bamboo Development Council (Combamdev Council) by the Rotary Club of Makati Central (RCMC).

PROPAGATING BAMBOO. The Rotary club of Makati Central donated P1 million worth of Chinese bamboos to the Cordillera through the Benguet State University. Undersecretary Edgardo Manda, RCMC president, (sitting) spearheaded the replanting of the bamboo seedlings as Romy Sta. Ana, Dexter Quintana and Conrad Perreras look on. Also in photo are Benguet businessman Jack Dulnuan and BSU President Rogelio Colting, who received the donation. Not in photo is Benguet Vice-governor Cresencio Pacalso who was then busy planting more rhizomes in the College of Forestry farm. Photo by Lyn V. Ramo/NORDIS

The bamboos which arrived in cardboard boxes with perlites that control the loss of moisture were received by BSU President Rogelio Colting, businessman Jack Dulnuan, Prof. Romualdo Sta. Ana of the International Network of Bamboo and Rattan, and RCMC’s Undersecretary Edgardo Manda, who is the current president, Dexter E. Quintana, past president and Treasurer Conrad Perreras.

According to Engr. Dante Chichioco, Corbamdev Council project management officer, the bamboo donation is part of a research grant to propagate bamboo in two sites with a total land area of 1,500 square-meters for which the BSU College of Forestry will undertake with the Corbamdev Council.

Considering bamboo’s economic and ecological importance, Corbamdev Council, a multi-sectoral group, was organized in January this year. It is composed of members and representatives from government institutions, non-government organizations (NGOs), indigenous peoples group, religious and civic groups, according to Colting.

The organization of the council is an offshoot of an advocacy on Bamboo For Life Manda leads. RCMC officers have been coming to Baguio and La Trinidad since last year meeting with groups or individuals who might be interested in helping in the bamboo advocacy.

Bamboo propagation

The Corbamdev program will start in Benguet as pilot province for 2008 and will expand to other Cordillera provinces over a five-year implementation plan. The project management office will be based at the College of Forestry, Benguet State University.

Bamboo production has also started in Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Laguna, according to Manda, who said BSU is the best place to house the seedlings and rhizomes from China.

Manda supervised the replanting in seedbeds of the rhizomes and in plastic bags of the seedlings. Benguet Vice-governor Cresencio Pacalzo came earlier and led BSU crew in planting the bamboos.

Pacalzo said the seedling had to be planted and watered upon arrival to prevent roots from drying up.

Manda said the most important role that bamboo does to the environment is the carbon sequestration that would clean up the air.

Bamboo exchange

Quiliang Chen, a farmer and a bamboo garden landscaper from Hang Zou, came just to oversee and monitor the bamboos. He said, through an interpreter, there should be a long-term agreement between his company and the local organization to improve the technology.

According to Chen, moso can grow at 15 to 20 meters with an adult diameter of eight to 10 centimeter in three to five years.

He said he is also interested in bamboo exchange because there are Philippine species that are not found in China. He specified the black bamboo variety, which he hoped he could also bring to China later.

Asked if the bamboos have undergone a phyto-sanitary clearance that would ensure that these are free from bacteria and plant diseases, Colting said these would not be accepted without it.

Colting said after the bamboos have been acclimatised to the Benguet conditions, these would be transplanted in forests, starting in Benguet and would later expand.

RCMC Foundation, FG Foundation, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), Rotary Club of La Trinidad, and Rotary Club of Baguio are among the partners in the bamboo project, which would improve water and air quality, provide fuel, and give income to farmers. # Lyn V. Ramo