Bamboo species -'filter' species to mitigate pollution and improve income for smallholder farmers?

Bamboo species (Gramineae bambuseae bambusoideae) provide important income and household consumption to low-income rural residents. According to a local knowledge study in Hoa Binh province, Vietnam, bamboo maintains fertility and productivity of the land because of surface litter accumulation, minimized leaching and long-term primary productivity. A study in Kenya shows that bamboo absorbs water faster than most other plants and is used to clean sewage water in some parts of the world. Bamboo may also be one strategic option of waste prevention and recycling. The uncontrolled dumping of large amounts of urban organic solid wastes in Vietnam causes pollution and ground water contamination. One of strategies since 1980s in dealing with this problem in northern Vietnam is composting solid waste to produce organic fertilisers (OF). However, farmers are skeptical to these OF and risk of the high concentrations of heavy metals is reported in literature. Our assumption is that Bamboo may function as an efficient ‘filter’, which takes up plant nutrients as well as trace (heavy) metals from the OF, and thereby mitigates the risk of environment al pollution. Significant nutrient inputs to the soil, obtained by applying OF together with a better land management, are expected to promote farm production of significant quantities of high quality bamboo products. This is an innovation for upland-lowland interaction for sustainable livelihood and environment protection.

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