Review, Current Status, and Prospects of the Bamboo Industry in Taiwan

Bamboo offers local people a variety of products for daily needs, and helps protect habitats in Taiwan. In the 1960~1980s, bamboo-related processing industries in Taiwan reached a maximum output value of US$ 44.7 million and greatly contributed to economic improvements for bamboo farmers, local communities, and governments. But these industries have been in decline for a long time due to surging labor costs and high competition from cheaper imported products from other Asian countries. For Taiwanese agricultural authorities, how to promote the amount of bamboo utilization to maintain the health of indigenous bamboo forest resources, and how to allow the bamboo processing industry and bamboo production to prosper again are important issues in making strategy. This paper first reviews the development history of the bamboo-processing industry in Taiwan, so that one can know the contributions and importance of the numerous ways that bamboo was utilized by local people in bygone years, then describes the current status of this industry and how programs for promoting bamboo utilization have been successfully carried out by the agricultural authorities. Finally, the paper mentions several beneficial coordinated programs in cooperation with other related governmental agencies to upgrade the bamboo industry in Taiwan and the prospects for the potential development of bamboo utilization including high value-added fine bamboo craft products, bamboo pyrolytic oil production, and bamboo pellet manufacture.