How can farmers grow bamboo?
• Bamboo can be grown from seeds, but most species produce seeds just once every 15-120 years. Usually, propagation involves tissue culture, rhizome cuttings and vegetative cuttings. • Giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus giganteus) grows well in areas traditionally used to grow sugar cane and coffee, thus providing an alternative or additional cash crop. Arundinaria alpina, a species of bamboo native to Kenya, will yield as many as 20,000 bamboo poles per hectare per year, with each growing to a height of 12 metres.
