Group finishes bamboo propagation seminar

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

LUBAO — Members of the Magalang Bamboo Growers Association (MBGA) on Monday finished their month-long seminar on Bamboo Node Training here.

The seminar was sponsored by the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Pamcham) in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

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Pamcham Bamboo Program coordinator Myrna Bituin said the MBGA members were given the skills needed to produce engineered bamboo slots that can be used as substitute “wood panels” for the making of furniture and other crafts.

Under the program, MBGA members also learned to process bamboo slots in a more economical manner. The slots may be used to make desks for schools and even tables and chairs.

“The potential is limitless. Just imagine using bamboo in making furniture and even floor parquets. The engineered bamboos are flat and nodes are removed so that the bamboo can be fashioned as slots,” Bituin said.

Such product, she stressed, is durable and insect-resistant since engineered bamboo-finished products are being treated with medicines.

The training program was funded through a Promoting Regional Opportunities for Enterprise and Livelihood (Propel) grant from Senator Francis Pangilinan.

The ultimate objective of the project is a sustainable income for farmers and livelihood for their families and the community, to be achieved by turning bamboo -- "the poor man's timber" -- into a cash crop, not only through pole sales but also through nursery raising, plantation and primary processing for bamboo-based products and for food processing.