Rare flowering of bamboo in India

[Bamboo Conne'isseur]

I read in the papers yesterday that there was a rare flowering of bamboo in India, that has caused a boom in the rat population. Has anyone heard of this, and perhaps know which species flowered? Who knows, could some identification of some unknown bamboo be in the future? Or maybe even some new selections, or types?

[Mike McG]

Bamboo Conne'isseur,

I think the paper may have been reporting on Melocanna baccifera which the last time it flowered just after WWII caused a famine the lead to a revolt in the local area that lasted decades. I just Googled - Melocanna baccifera famine - and there appear to be lots of articles. I recall reading some time ago that the Indian government was planning on cutting all the bamboo down to limit the food available to the rats.

Mike near Brenham TX

[Roy]

India goverments have been know to fall based upon how they handled the flowering of Melocanna baccifera.

[boonut]

I read the same articles several months ago about the Melocanna Baccifera. The article sure made it sound like a MAJOR problem in India. Baccifera has that large fruit like a small pear.

[Bamboo Conne'isseur]

Thanks for the info MikeMcG, Roy, Boonut. I guess India better handle this one carefully, if they are to learn from their previous mistakes. Here is the original article.

Rat-population boom stirs fears of famine in India

Gauhati, India- A rare flowering of wild bamboo plants has caused the rat population to explode in northeastern India, raising fears of famine as the rodents rampage through rice paddies, officials said Thursday. An alert has been declared in Mizoram state, with authorities supplying rat poison free to nearly 10,000 farmers and paying them to make bamboo traps, said local Agriculture Minister H. Rammawi

[Eastlandia]

<img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b102/ ... cifera.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting">

This species flowered a little bit last year, and it was expected to flower this year...
I heard once that man calculates that it flowers every 65-70 years. (?)
-eastlandia

[Bamboo Conne'isseur]

I did not know bamboo could produce fruits like that, but then again there is alot I don't know. Example, can humans eat these? What is their nutrient content? Thanks for the pic Eastlandia. These kind of look like squash, or maybe even some gourd.