Which plant is popularly known as 'green gold'?

Bamboo is called "green gold" because of its enormous economic value, its many uses and its very fast growth. It is also called the "poor man's timber" and the "cradle-to-coffin plant", because it is used in almost every stage of rural life.

About bamboo:

• Bamboo is not a tree but a giant grass, belonging to the grass family (Poaceae).
• It is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world; some species can grow up to about 90 cm (nearly 3 feet) in a day.
• It matures in three to five years and can be harvested repeatedly without replanting, since new shoots grow from the underground rhizome.

Many bamboo species flower only once in several decades and then die. In Mizoram, the mass flowering of a bamboo species about every 48 years (called "mautam") leads to a huge increase in rats, which destroy crops and can cause famine.

Uses of bamboo:

• Construction of houses, scaffolding, bridges and fencing.
• Furniture, handicrafts, baskets, mats and musical instruments (such as the flute).
• Paper and pulp, and increasingly bamboo-based fabrics, flooring and panels.
• Food: young bamboo shoots are eaten, especially in the north-east.
• Environmental benefits: it binds soil and prevents erosion, absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen.

Bamboo in India:

• India has the second largest bamboo resources in the world, after China, with over 130 species.
• The north-eastern states hold a large share of India's bamboo, along with Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha.

In 2017, the Indian Forest Act, 1927 was amended to exclude bamboo grown outside forest areas from the definition of "tree". This allows farmers to grow, cut and transport bamboo from non-forest land without a permit.

The National Bamboo Mission, first launched in 2006-07 and restructured in 2018-19, promotes bamboo cultivation, processing and marketing.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Sal is a valuable hardwood tree of central and eastern India.
• ✗Sandalwood is a fragrant and costly tree, especially associated with Karnataka.
• ✗Eucalyptus is a fast-growing tree, introduced from Australia, used for pulpwood and poles.