Studies on natural resistance of bamboo species available in Jorhat Assam to its climatic condition

Abstract

Bamboo is utilized for various purposes in Southeast Asia and particularly in northeast newlineIndia, but they are destroyed in a short span due to biodegradation because of its rich nutrient newlinecontent. To enhance their durability they are given various preservative treatments. Literature newlinesurvey showed no work on the natural durability of bamboo in Assam; preservative treatment newlineprocedure using Boucherie apparatus; preservative chemical loaded by such apparatus into newlinebamboo and the performance of such chemically treated bamboos in the climatic conditions newlineprevailing in Assam. newlineTo find out the natural resistance in bamboo, eleven bamboo species were selected for the newlinetest. The field tests conducted at Jorhat, Assam revealed that Bambusa pallida (Bijuli bah) was newlinevery resistant to biodegradation. B. nutans, B. tulda, B. bambos, Dendrocalamus sikkimensis, newlineD.giganteus, B.balcooa, B.polymorpha and B.longispiculata were found to be only resistant and newlineD .hamiltonii was found to be susceptible to biodegradation with higher percentage of biomass newlineloss while Melocanna baccifera was very susceptible to biodegradation and had the highest newlinebiomass loss. newlineDuring the study of preservative treatment of B. pallida and D. hamiltonii using newlineBoucherie apparatus with Copper Chrome Boron (CCB) as a preservative chemical, a new newlineprotocol was developed and tested to determine the completion of the treatment process of newlinebamboos. Freshly harvested bamboo needed only 15-20 minutes for completion of the treatment newlineprocess. Longer treatment time was required for basal portion of the bamboo in comparison to newlineapical and mid portions. The treatment time increased with post harvest delay in preservative newlinetreatment and particulate matters in the treating solution which blocked the flow path of the newlinetreating solution and thus increased the treatment time considerably. newlineThe study of the preservative chemical loading in bamboo revealed that the CCB in the newlineconcentration of 8% under the pressure of 1kg/cm2 newline was found to be suitable for B. pallida while newlinebe