Bamboo Panel Boards - International Network for Bamboo and Rattan

CONCLUSIONSome 28 bamboo-based panels have emerged as a result of research carriedout during the last three decades, mostly in Asia. Their production, however, hasnot kept pace with the diversity in variety. In China, where most have been developed,production is reported as stagnant at about 100 000 m 3 per year. In India,the annual production is estimated to be only 2 000 m 3. The reasons for this slowgrowth can be attributed to:1. Non-commercialization of technologies;2. Inadequate supplies of bamboo at stable prices, resulting in entrepreneurialhesitation; and3. Non-recognition of the much articulated environmental and socio-economicbenefits of substituting wood with bamboo, as they have not been analysedand quantified.Consequently, important sector-related issues - such as identification of rawmaterial resource and appropriation of the same to the manufacture of bamboobasedpanels, formulation of product as well as performance standards, anddocumentation of statistics relating to production, trade and consumption - havelargely been ignored.Wood from natural forests is becoming increasingly scarce, while the potentialof bamboo, particularly in panel form, to replace wood is being increasinglyacknowledged. Hence, it is important to address the issues mentioned above tofully exploit the versatility of bamboo in construction and other major applicationsin the next century.As mentioned earlier, a large variety of bamboo-based panels has been developed.However, in the absence of scaled-up technologies and standardizedmethods to test product properties and performance, it will be premature topromote their production. It is therefore necessary to:1. Focus on mature technologies and scale them up for industrial productio, ,.Bamboo mat board and bamboo strip board technologies in China, as well asbamboo particleboard technologies in China, Costa Rica/Canada and India aresome such technologies that can be considered for the purpose. An excellentexample of how a small investment can kick-start entrepreneurial interest intechnologies is the bamboo mat board project funded by IDFC/INBAR in India.