As regards making irrigation water available to farmers where and when it was wanted, the spread of the bamboo tubewell was a positive story.
A bamboo-like reed which grows in tall separate stalks and which is used for thatching roofs and making baskets.
Within each 10 x 10-m plot, all mature bamboo culms (those with ramified branches and leaves) were measured for diameter at breast height (dbh).
An annual rate of downstream range expansion for bamboo was extrapolated.
In laterite outcrops, where the influence of the rains is hardly felt, large expanses of small bamboos of stunted appearance are met with.
The volume of timber decreased due to logging is derived from the production statistics of timber, fuelwood and bamboo for the year 1993-4.
Plants were supported by bamboo canes as and when required.
The economics of the bamboo tubewell: dispelling some myths about appropriate technology.
