Growth performance of selected bamboo species suitable for humid tropics of Kerala, India

A field study was carried out in two-year-old bambusetum established at main campus, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala to evaluate the growth performance of selected six bamboo species of potential relevance to the humid tracts of Kerala, India. The selected bamboos included are Dendrocalamus longispathus Kurz; D. brandisii (Munro) Kurz, D. asper (Schult.f.) Back.ex Heyne; Bambusa balcooa Roxb; B. vulgaris Schrad and B. tulda Roxb. Growth parameters such as clump height, clump circumference (at 1.37 m), culm girth (at 1.37 m), internodal length and number of culms were observed in the field at periodic intervals of four months. The field result showed considerable variation in growth and productivity among the six bamboo species under study. Overall growth performance was better for B. vulgaris, D. brandisii and D. longispathus. For instance, B. vulgaris and D. brandisii were the toppers in terms of clump height, clump circumference and culm girth while B. tulda showed relatively poor growth for these parameters. Among the species, the highest internodal length was observed for D. brandisii and D. longispathus while B. tulda recorded the shortest internodal length. Number of culms per clump was highest for D. asper while it was the lowest for B. balcooa. Faster growth rendered by all the species except for B. tulda suggest their vast potential for integration in the farm lands of Kerala for enhancing the economic and ecological benefits to the farmers.