Formulated with the help of the planning commission and the ministry of rural development, the `bamboo programme' would enable the production of value-added goods for sale in the domestic market and for export.

In this context, prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee formally launched two new schemes on the occasion of world environment day on June 5 -- development of bamboo and quality seedlings.

The bamboo programme, outlined by the ministry of environment and forests, would be initially promoted in nine states to promote the interests of bamboo workers there, an official release today said.

The states are -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Orissa.

Implemented under the `care and share' concept of joint forest management (JFM), in which the local people are jointly responsible for management offorest, bamboo resource would be developed not only in the forest areas but also in private lands, where cultivation of bamboo would be promoted in individual homesteads and agricultural fields.

The environment ministry is targeting approximately one hectare of natural bamboo forests to be brought under intensive scientific management every year over a five-year period, generating five million man-days of employment every year, the release said.

Micro enterprise development centres would be established in identified states to improve the durability and value addition of bamboo.

Marketing support would be provided once the harvesting starts and export of value-added products would be promoted through the State Trading Corporation and star trading houses, the release said.

The scheme would involve an investment of Rs 150 crore over a five-year period and concerned states would be required to formulate specific proposals and submit them to the ministry of rural development, it said.

Funds would be madeavailable under the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) and Swarn Jayanti Rozgar Yojana.

Announcing the scheme, minister for environment and forests Suresh Prabhu said China, with only 3.79 million hectares of forest land under bamboo, as against 8.96 million hectares in India, as identified by the Forest Survey of India, exported nearly seven billion dollars worth of bamboo products every year.

``There is thus a tremendous potential for the development of bamboo resource in India to increase its productivity, manufacture high quality value-added goods and generate large scale self-employment opportunities for the tribal and backward communities,'' Prabhu said.