Can Bamboo Plantations Produce Quality Timber?

I am a Kenyan and I have just come across a farm selling bamboo seedlings that produce solid bamboo trees. I have searched for more information and it has led me to your website which has inspired me more. In the next 1 or 2 months I plan to plant 150 seedlings of bamboo. I plan to produce poles for fencing and building purposes.

The bamboo concept is new in Kenya and I believe it will bring a lot of change in this country if it is embraced. According to the research I have done, I have learnt that bamboo can give me good returns.

I am however skeptical about the ability of bamboos to produce quality poles and timber. Kindly advise me on the ability of bamboos to produce quality poles. How many shoots can form a clump if planted in an ideal climate?

I will appreciate your input as I begin the journey of transforming our country. Kindly give me more information of how bamboo trees are used in your country.

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⭐ Best Answer:

Bamboo has the same uses as timber, it can be chipped and made into paper and boards. The fibres can be used and if one goes to woolworths one can see the socks, towels and other garments made from bamboo. It produces more cotton per hectare than regular cotton using less pesticides and weedicides, it uses less water than forestry and writings in china say that where it is planted the streams start flowing again!

A lot of scaffolding going up many storeys in the East are from bamboo. Houses can also be made from bamboo and furniture. Once planted bamboo can supply a yearly income since after 5 years culms or stems can be harvested yearly. I have planted a hectare to prove to myself that the yield is higher than I can achieve using forestry having heard that it can produce 200 ton annually.

Minimum Area for a Profitable Bamboo Plantation

What is the minimum area to at least have a profit for bamboo, especially if you only grow for poles? When can you expect income for pole production, in a small scale level? Yes, there is money in bamboo, but it is the flooring and other stuff already, which for sure small farmers can't afford to set up such facilities. So, again what is the minimum area? Thanks. This site is very helpful.

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⭐ Best Answer:

Let's assume a revenue of $1 per linear foot of pole, selling untreated poles directly to a buyer (there's the key: find a buyer). There are 43500 sq ft in an acre. Assume an average total of one linear foot of pole per square foot of land. At $1/linft, that's $43k/year. Let's assume $0.10/linear-foot, and 4 square feet per linear foot: that's $1k in revenue.

So there you have it: upper and lower bounds. You can imagine that for ever 4 square feet, a 4-year culm will produce a 20 foot cane. Harvesting every 4 square foot patch on a 4-year rotation would mean 2700 canes harvested per year. If those canes are 20' long and sell for $0.10/foot, then you've got 20 * .1 * 2700 = $5400/acre/year, not even trying very hard! Just wait twenty years till you've got an acre of 60' tall, 6" diameter moso!

The simplest added-value projects in the US would be selling potted culms ($5-$30/gal plant) or making woven mats or privacy/garden screens ($1-$5/sqft). Other ideas: Selling edible bamboo shoots to a local co-op / health food store, raising a pig or ducks in the understory, or making bamboo bike frames ($100-$2k/frame) and trailers. Looks like you need reliable buyers, and multiple products, to make more than a thousand dollars per year.