|
Outcome
of the Visit:
The
visit to Shengda Bamboo Limited from Shanghai on 9th
July 2007 was very useful in understanding the technology
developed  for the value addition of Bamboo. The Shengda Forestry
Industry (Group) Co. Ltd is a leading manufacturer of wooden
decorative materials and is one of the largest wooden product
companies in China. The Shengda products have been assessed as a
famous brand of China and the products are in great demand in
domestic as well as international market. The entrepreneurship
on Bamboo Products is of a very high quality and most of the
products are being exported to North America and Europe. In this
factory Bamboo floor tiles are being produced (capacity of 15,
00000 cum). There are two basic types of Bamboo colour:
N-natural colour, C-carbonized (coffee) colour. Two structure of
flooring are available: H-horizontal 3-ply and V-vertical 1-ply.
Three types of surfaces provide the customers with variety of
paint and finish styles. The quality control is performed by an
independent Quality Control department with statistical sampling
methods used to test both chemical and physical properties.
The
factory use Mao bamboo for floor making. Mao bamboo has very
good physical and chemical properties with its density between
oak and beech. Only 4-6 years old bamboos are selected for the
flooring to ensure the perfect colour, density and strength.
China
is leader in the field of Bamboo utilization and value addition
and has captured more than 90% of the world Bamboo trade. There
is a vast scope for utilization of Bamboo products in China
itself. We discussed the possibility of mutual co-operation
between the Chinese industries and Tripura Government. During
the course of discussion with the Indian Consular General in
Shanghai it was observed that a project may be prepared after
seeing the capacity of Chinese industries in Shanghai, Nanjing
and Anji areas for bilateral cooperation between the Industries
of two countries and the Indian Consulate in Shanghai may be
kept involved in the process.
At
Nanjing the Indian delegation held substantial talks with the
academicians, University administration and senior scientists of
Bamboo Engineering Research Center regarding the possible
parameters of cooperation between Tripura and Chinese
entrepreneurs. The Indian delegation offered the Chinese
industries either to set up Bamboo industry in Tripura to
exploit the vast Bamboo potential of the State or to come
forward to provide technology for the same. It was mentioned
that Tripura and other North-Eastern States have the maximum
Bamboo resource of the Country. In India Bamboo cover more than
10 Million ha of forestlands. In Tripura bamboo forests are
found over 33% of the area covering around 3500 sq.km area. The
offer of Indian delegation was agreed to by the head of the BERC
for providing technology for the setting up of value addition of
Bamboo. Professor, Zhang Qisheng, Member Chinese Engineering
Academy and President Zhejiang Forestry University and Professor
Nanjing Forestry University stressed the need for first visiting
Tripura in September-October 2007 for assessment of the field
situation and raw material availability and suitability of the
species for setting up of industry and transfer of suitable
technology. The visit will also explore selecting a partner
organization in Tripura. It was decided that TFDPC will be the
partner for this purpose and shall also act as nodal agency for
interaction with other private agencies interested in
collaboration with BERC and Chinese companies. The Chinese side
wanted commitment for funding the visit of a two member
delegation led by Professor Zhang and comprising of Dr Mingie
Guan Associate Researcher, BERC, who had visited India in 2006
in connection with the Bamboo festival organized by the
Government of India at Agartala.
Bamboo
is the main driving force of the economy in the Anhui Province
and similar is the case in Ahejang province. The Bamboo based
industries have developed high quality indigenous machineries
for working as well as treatment technology for prolonging the
life of bamboo products. These technologies could be extended in
India with Chinese support. As far as job creation is concerned
the Bamboo processing technologies have created jobs for the
people of mountainous region and helped them overcome the
poverty. The Chinese
delegation from BERC stressed the need for choosing one or two
technologies for transfer to Tripura for setting up of
production units.
The
delegation also visited the Nanjing Forestry University
facilities and found that it would be of help if cooperation is
also ensured  for training the officers of forest department in
various disciplines. The University had expertise in 55 forestry
subjects and is the top notch University in Forestry in China.
This could be done through Tripura University or through the
proposed Centre of Excellence for the Non-Timber Forest Product
under the JBIC project. The involvement of this Centre in
accessing Chinese technology in Bamboo sector development in
Tripura though BERC should be considered and JBIC project should
have tie up with BERC for developing the capabilities of the
Centre of Excellence.
The
Bamboo product factory at Xueqiang is owned by former worker’s
Son Mr. Yuqiang Chen and his wife and employs more than 500
workers for production of Bamboo carpets and other products like
vertical blind etc.
In
Kunming (the capital city of Yunnan Province) the delegation
held discussion on the presence of shifting cultivators and the
action plan of Chinese authorities for permanently settling
them. The discussion held with the officials of Yunnan Forestry
Academy and Yunnan Social science Academy revealed that smaller
ethnic communities like Lisue
and Xijinue are still practicing shifting cultivation and
the policy of the Central government is to discourage the
practice and most of the communities are being prompted to shift
to urban areas from the hill slopes and attempts are made to
provide these people employment opportunities with the private
industries. This is akin to the regrouping programme undertaken
in Tripura. The Central Government has banned logging and
agriculture on steep hill slopes on ecological ground and lands
with 25% slope are being converted into forests along the entire
catchments of Yangtze River. The villagers are being provided
with food grains, educational allowance for their children and
funds for planting of tree species of economic and ecological
value.
In
China the forests and land belong to the Government and the
people have only users’ rights. The tribal people known as
smaller minorities have five national level autonomous bodies to
look after their welfare. The villagers are allowed to elect
their headman. The county level head is appointed by the
Provincial Government (The political hierarchy in China follows-
Country-Province-Prefecture-County–Township- Village). The
people have been involved in large scale to plant trees for
which they are compensated with the ration, energy saving
devices and other income generating facilities for a few years.
Special poverty alleviation projects are implemented under the
Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and UNDP Programmes. The key
elements of such schemes are a) Bio-diversity Conservation b)
Co-Management (similar to India’s JFM), c) Community
development (Micro-credit model) and Environmental Protection
Fund d) Awareness Generation and e) Community based Monitoring.
In
order to create durable livelihood opportunities special
emphasis is given for the development of Bamboo sector and its
value addition and China has already become unconquered kings of
Bamboo technology in the world.
In nutshell, the shifting
cultivation programme in China involves: First, in discouraging
the practice as it is considered retrograde and damaging to the
ecology as well as to the progress of mankind in modern era.
Secondly, provide special schemes for the incentive/disincentive
oriented conservation of hill slopes by banning logging and
promoting tree planting. Third, transfer the population to urban
areas and cities and provide opportunities for the jobs promote
country side rural Eco-tourism for generation jobs for the poor
and; fourth, develop a world class Bamboo sector.
The
delegation visited a remote area about 50 KM away from the
Kunming city and got a feel of rural areas.
We
visited a rural tribal hamlet around 50 km away from Kunming and
on way saw a typical market place where people were selling
every thing they produce from pork meat to spices. It was
similar to a rural tribal market scene in Tripura and other
parts of India. The condition of village was very bad as far as
access to health care was concerned as no body is allowed free
health care and nearest health care facility was around 15 Km
away. The people were tilling the land with Maize and poor
people have no job opportunities in the vicinity. However,
eco-tourism is allowing people to earn livelihood. We could see
this as we took our lunch in the village hotel which saw many
urbanites flocking to it on a holiday. The villager we discussed
with had made a house recently from his savings from selling
milk to the hotel. As far as forestry is concerned we could
notice that the poor are still growing food grains on the
forestland in the absence of a viable alternative.
The
delegation also visited the Yunnan Ethnic Villages, situated six
kilometers south of Kunming. This is a theme park where each of
the 26 ethnic people of Yunnan Province have a village built on
the premises. The park include a square symbolizing unity among
various ethnic groups.
It
also includes a theatre for cultural performances like songs and
dances, a folklore museum and a museum of ethnic waxwork. It is
a wonderful park with beautiful landscaping and is a paradise
for the tourists interested in knowing the cultural heritage of
smaller communities of Yunnan Province.
In
the last leg of the study tour the delegation visited Beijing.
On 16th July the delegation visited Yongledian
Township and adjoining areas to see the multiple land use under
forestry practices. The Agro-Forestry practices are quite
innovative as the farmers have been earning more than 17,000
Chinese Yuan from one fifth of a hectare land. The tree crop is
the Chinese Popular species (P.tomentosa)
and other crop is growing of Mushroom, Fruit like strawberry,
Apricot, Apple, Peach etc. Even Poultry is grown after fencing
the plantation and such products are known as organic products
and fetch two times the price of normal poultry products.
 The
rural people are also being engaged for managing enterprises
under joint venture with private companies to promote
eco-tourism projects for entertainment and demonstration of
Forestry Technology for use. The Director General of Beijing
Administration’s Parks and Forestry Department (International
Cooperation Division) accompanied the Indian Delegation during
the field visit. The local leadership of the Communist party of
China at Yongledian and the Indian Embassy official also joined
the delegation during the field visit and explained the
activities being undertaken with the help of local people.
The
Director General of the China’s Forestry Department hosted a
Banquet for the Indian Delegation in the evening on 16th
July 2007,in which discussion were held on the field visits and
also to find out if future cooperation between Chinese
Government and Tripura in particular and Indian Forestry set up
in general be considered depending upon the need. The Indian
side was also accompanied by Mr. Siddhartha Nath, Second
Secretary, and Embassy of India in China. The Indian delegation
specifically requested cooperation in the field of Bamboo value
addition and technology transfer.
Later
on rap up discussion were held on the possibilities of bilateral
cooperation with the Indian Embassy officials.
The
delegation also visited the Great Wall of China before leaving
for India. The entire wall area has been well forested with tree
growth and is wonderful experience to watch this wonder on
earth.
|
Study
Tour Report