Report on Native Konbac Bamboo Product Private Limited

(Manufacturing Unit)
INTRODUCTION:
This report attempts to learn more about Native Konbac Bamboo Private Ltd., a bamboo
manufacturing company that intends to create long-lasting bamboo structures. It is one of the
leading bamboo manufacturing units in Sindhudurg. They serve both local customers and
customers outside Sindhudurg. This company teaches bamboo processing and manufacture
to rural craftspeople.

Bambusa Balcooa

Kingdom: Plantae

Family: Poaceae

Genus: Bambusa

Species: B. balcooa
and it got this name from Assam's Barak valley. It is found at altitudes of up to 600 metres,
with a preference for soils with good drainage and a heavy texture. Bihar, Jharkhand,
Uttarakhand, and West Bengal all have populations of the species.

B. balcooa is a huge, thick-walled, densely tufted sympodial bamboo species with strong
branching and thorn-like branchlets lower down the culm. The brown hairs on the leaf
sheaths and the short, curved thorn-like branchlets make this species simple to identify. The
complete absence of auricles on the culm sheaths is another distinguishing trait. The
chromosome number is 2n = 72

Uses: Stems are used to build houses, bridges, and fishing floats, as well as scaffolding,
rickshaw hood frames, baskets, woven mats, and agricultural and fishing instruments.

Dendrocalamus stocksii (Mannaga)

Kingdom Plantae
Family Poacea
Genus Dendrocalamus
Species stocksii
Dendrocalamus stocksii naturally found in Central Western Ghats and also found in
Karnataka, Goa, Kerala and Maharashtra. It is locally known as ‘Chivari’, ‘Mes’ in
Maharashtra; ‘Konda’, ‘Oor-shema’,‘Marihal bamboo’ in Karnataka and ‘Mannaga’ in Goa.
D.stocksii has culms that are medium in size, solid, and strong.

Morphology

Culms has height is about 9m and diameter ranging from 25-58mm and internode length is
15-30cm. The mature culm is smooth. The culms are light green in colour, with a loose
spacing and no thorns. The culms of this species, unlike those of other bamboo species, are
usually solid at the base and even up to half the culm height. It is 15-22cm long and 7-17cm
broad. The sheath is normally covered in reddish hairs interspersed with tiny white hairs on
the outside. The Culm sheath’s shape is large, black, and bulbous at the base, gradually
tapering upwards, and truncated concavely at the apex.

The leaves are 10-20cm long and 1-2cm wide, linear-lanceolate in shape and spherical or
attenuated at the base, with a short petiole (2mm). The margins of the leaf blade are scabrous
and glabrous.

Uses: - Scaffolding, pulp and paper, crafts, construction, backpacks, umbrella handles,
walking sticks, and as a navigational aid in country boats are just a few of the applications. In
recent time bamboo has been seen as a substitute in furniture industry because of its typical
anatomical characteristics like the presence of non-predominant nodes, solid nature of culms
and good culm wall thickness.

FINDINGS:
There were numerous types of bamboo in the production plant, including Bambusa
balcooa (hollow bamboo, Kanak bamboo), which is the most common bamboo in Assam,
Dendrocalamus stocksii (solid bamboo, Mannanga bamboo), which is common in the
Western Ghats, and flattened bamboo.

The process of making bamboo furniture is as follows:

The furniture manufacturing process includes bamboo treatment, washing/cleaning of
treated bamboo, heating, and bamboo frame building.

1. The fresh bamboo is left for 15-20 days to remove the moisture from it. After
that drilling process is done by making two holes of 3mm near the inter node
portion manually with the help of machine for accompanying the chemical
treatment process.
2. Bamboo chemical treatment which is done for 7 hours by loading the bamboo
in pressure chamber. This treatment preserves bamboo from termites by
changing its taste to one that termites don't like, as well as protecting it from
heating damage and therefore preserving its quality. The bamboo treatment
seals the bamboo walls with preservatives/chemicals to prevent fungi and
insects from causing degradation. CCB is the chemical utilized in the
 preservation process (Copper Chromium Boron). With the help of pressure,
this chemical penetrates deep into the bamboo.
3. This treated bamboo is then left for 7 days for drying and after that the treated
dried bamboo is immersed in water to remove the chemicals from the surface.
4. To make the surface even and give it the desired shape, the bamboo stick is
heated. Grading of bamboo sticks is done according to the diameter. The
diameter of Mannaga varies from 2 inches to 6/8 inch and for Kanak variety
the diameter ranges from 2 inches to 4 inches usually.
5. This stick is then used to create the appropriate shape of furniture, which is
subsequently polished using Melamine Matt polish to get a smooth texture.

Worker’s activity
 In the manufacturing unit, all the workers are skilled to do more than one
task such as the carpenter makes furniture as well as he is skilled to do
construction work.
 To make one chair a carpenter takes 4 to 6 days depending on the design of
the chair.

Suggestions and conclusion

 Bamboo should be procured from surrounding places since transportation costs are
factored into the cost of production, limiting bamboo product manufacturing.
 Transportation costs are reduced by raising information about desirable bamboo
species that can be grown in non-native places. Organizing farmer gatherings can help
raise awareness.
 Encourage farmers to grow bamboo on a huge scale.
 Techniques for growing balcooa bamboo in the Kudal region could be taught,
lowering transportation costs in the long run.
 Laborers should be urged to wear protective clothing such as masks and gloves.