The Governor of Assam, Lt General (retd) Ajai Singh said that the people of the North-east should take up the cultivation of bamboo as a serious enterprise. Market forces must determine the demand for the supply of bamboo in the region, he said. Mr Singh was speaking after inaugurating a day-long seminar on bamboo cultivation organized by the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC) under the aegis of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in the city yesterday. The seminar focused on the revival of the plywood industry, which was closed down in 1996 following a ban imposed on the felling of trees by the Supreme Court, by promoting the use of bamboo as an alternative to timber in the north-eastern region. About 80 per cent of plywood units are based in the North-east.