The poor man's timber, bamboo, is no longer the orphan crop. It is gradually engaging the attention of the government, which has planned to diversify its uses to reap the benefits in the $7.5 billion global bamboo product market. India is the second richest bamboo resource country in the world, next only to China. In terms of genetic diversity, India has 136 bamboo species under 75 genera. About 89 bamboo species out of 126 recorded in India under 16 genera grow naturally in different forest areas or are cultivated. Though India has bamboo resources in about 9 million hectare, the yield is low at 3 tonne per hectare per annum as the cultivation is not intensively managed. China has gone for intensive commercial cultivation of bamboo and has increased the average yield to 25 tonne per hectare per annum. Within two decades of the initiatives, China has been able to convert their traditional bamboo-based handicrafts sector into a mechanised one. However, in India, the situation is under change with the launch of the National Bamboo Mission (NBM) a year ago. The mission has taken up the job of encouraging farmers to grow the right type of bamboos and facilitate bamboo-based industries. "Our team visited China last year to study bamboo cultivation and bamboo-based industries. We invited Chinese bamboo-based industries to set up joint ventures in India,' the mission director and high commissioner of the NBM, ML Choudhary said. The NBM works in coordination with the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) and Bamboo Technology Support Group (BTSG) in 12 states including 8 north eastern states, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa. Training has been imparted to 300 farmers and 200 field functionaries within a span of one year. Two sites have been identified in Assam for the development of model bamboo clusters. BTSG has been entrusted with the job of certifying bamboo nurseries in north-eastern India and the same job is being done by CBTC in other states.