Design and Development of Bamboo Information System

Bamboo with thousands of species in the world, growing in a wide variety of soil and climatic conditions, plays an important role in providing livelihood, and ecological and food securities to mankind. The fastest-growing capacity of bamboo makes it a valuable sink for carbon storage. It prevents soil erosion and creates an effective watershed by binding soil along fragile riverbanks, deforested areas and in places prone to landslides. Recognizing the immense potential of bamboo and its socio-economic values, a number of international and nation agencies worldwide have came forward to support bamboo research and development. For the success of such programmes, information is a vital input. The availability of the right type of information at right time can trigger new directions in research, development and managerial action. But data on prior research are now widely scattered in different systems, formats and languages. The coordination and integration of information sources and systems have become a priority for bamboo research and development. The present study attempts to evaluate the present status and to prepare a plan for developing an international bamboo information system to integrate research and development in the sector. A prototype of web based bamboo information system also is developed and tested as part of the study