Sympodial Bamboo Cultivation under Native Shade Trees: an Agroforestry Perspective

Conventional bamboo cultivation practices advocates planting bamboo in cleared open areas. However, farmers in the south Konkan region of Western Ghats are traditionally cultivating bamboo in association with native trees. Various positive effects of native trees on the growth and development of individual culm, and a clump in general are reported as perceived by farmers. In addition to bamboo, farmers are getting multiple benefits derived from the preserved tree components. By considering bamboo as a main crop, I briefly reviewed various actual and possible interactions based on central biophysical hypothesis of agroforestry. Productivity of bamboo-tree agroforestry system as a whole is a function of multiple interfaces e.g. competition, mutualism, commensalism, association etc. and the mechanisms could be - various above and below-ground interactions, nutrient pumping, hydraulic lift, litter-fall and decomposition, nutrient cycling, microbial interactions, mycorrhizae association etc. and probably many others. Economic and ecosystem importance and the aspects of functional ecology in general are discussed. Importance of native trees and diversification of income sources to adopt various market and climate driven forces than monoculture farming are highlighted.