About NBM
The National Bamboo Mission (NBM) was launched initially in 2006-07 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, focusing on establishing nurseries and bamboo plantations. However, its provisions for the bamboo value chain and value addition were limited. In 2014-15, NBM was subsumed under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).
In 2017, the Government of India amended the Indian Forest Act, 1927, reclassifying bamboo so it is no longer considered as a tree. As a result, bamboo grown outside forests is not treated as forest produce, allowing farmers to cultivate, harvest, and transport bamboo like any other agricultural crop.
Objectives
- To increase the area under bamboo on non-forest lands, including government and private lands, to supplement farm income, enhance resilience to climate change, and ensure the availability of quality raw material for bamboo-based industries. Bamboo plantations will be promoted primarily on farmers’ fields, homesteads, community land, arable wasteland, along irrigation canals, water bodies, and CFR/IFR land under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 etc.
- To improve post-harvest management by establishing innovative primary processing units near bamboo production areas, including primary treatment and seasoning plants, preservation technologies, and market infrastructure.
- To promote product development in line with market demand by supporting Research and Development (R&D), entrepreneurship, and business models at cooperative, micro, small, and medium levels, thereby feeding into larger industries.
- To strengthen and modernize the bamboo-based industry in India by supporting the aggregation of farmers and entrepreneurs into farmer groups, Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs), Farmers Producer Companies (FPCs), and Self Help Groups (SHGs, and to facilitate their tie-ups with market aggregators and financial institutions.
- To promote skill development, capacity building, and awareness generation for the development of the bamboo sector, from production to market demand.
- To promote entrepreneurship and innovation in the bamboo sector.
- To realign efforts to reduce dependency on the import of bamboo and bamboo products by improving productivity and the suitability of domestic raw materials for industry, thereby aiming to enhance the incomes of primary producers.