DTI to farmers: Grow more bamboo to meet rising demand of $10-B global market

The increasing global demand for bamboo is there for the local agricultural industry to take advantage of.

 

This was the message of the Department of Trade and Industry to local farmers and bamboo growers, urging them to plant more bamboo trees as the worldwide demand for bamboo products rises by as much as $2 billion a year.

 

"There is a great demand now in the global market. The international market value is $10 billion," Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz said at the Philippine Bamboo Congress held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City on Tuesday.

 

Cruz added that the main challenge for the industry is to make supply sufficient for the continuous demand, but added that bamboo grows faster, is environment-friendly, is able to be grown anywhere in the country, and does not require a high capital investment. In 2009, the Philippines was among the top exporters of bamboo products, ranking sixth worldwide with a total export value of $30 million, based on the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan.

China’s current market share is about 50 percent. The world market for bamboo is expected to increase to $20 billion by 2015.  

The Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council has launched a program that aims to have150,000 to 166,000 hectares of land planted to bamboo in the country. "Planting more bamboo in the countryside is also one way of disaster mitigation, which is one of the advocacies of President Benigno Aquino," Cruz added.

 

“Bamboo is fast becoming a cost-effective and attractive alternative to wood, plastic, and metal that can generate more jobs and self-employment opportunities,” Cruz said. 

 

In the country, bamboo is mostly used for furniture, agriculture and construction materials. The leading varieties of the plant used for these purposes, said Cruz, are the kawayang tinik,  bayog, and giant bamboo.

 

Aside from the domestic market, the country’s bamboo products are also being exported to 50 countries worldwide. The US receives about one-third of bamboo exports from the Philippines. — BM, GMA News