Nagpur: As the world celebrated World Bamboo Day on Sept 18, a larger question confronts Maharashtra’s bamboo sector: Does the state need more bamboo plantations, or does it need a stronger value chain capable of turning existing bamboo into sustained economic returns?Maharashtra has resources, farmers and policy — but the next challenge is connecting plantations to markets, processing and sustainable incomes. The state has expanded bamboo cultivation and established institutions such as the Maharashtra Bamboo Development Board (MBDB).Industry experts, though, say that a vital cog is missing. Plantation alone does not create an industry. Farmers need access to scientifically suitable planting material, harvesting services, aggregation centres, treatment and storage facilities, transport and, most importantly, dependable buyers.The Maharashtra Bamboo Industry Policy 2025 provides an opportunity to take this approach forward. But its success will depend on measurable outcomes — farmers earning sustainable returns, greater bamboo processing within Maharashtra, new value-added industries, rural employment and stronger domestic and export markets, making coordination a continuing challenge.According to Ashish Kaswa, technocrat-turned-bamboo entrepreneur and former state-level executive council member of MBDB, the sector now needs to move from a plantation-driven approach to an integrated bamboo economy.“We should not follow a model where bamboo is planted first, and the market is searched later. The sequence should be: Identify the market, identify the product, secure the buyer, assess the available resource and then plant the bamboo required for that value chain,” Kaswa said.The immediate priority, stakeholders say, should be to revive and commercially integrate existing plantations rather than focus only on new planting. Organised harvesting, farmer aggregation through FPOs and cooperatives, long-term procurement arrangements, and investment in processing infrastructure will be critical. Maharashtra already has bamboo resources, traditional skills, entrepreneurs, research institutions, and an expanding market opportunity.
