Each bamboo has different benefits
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia needs a strategy for developing bamboo products because bamboo has great potential to be used as a raw material in several processed products, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) has said.

"To develop bamboo into products, there must be a development strategy," a researcher at BRIN's Biomass and Bioproduct Research Center, Wahyu Dwianto, said at the Bambootalk event, which was broadcast online from Jakarta on Saturday.

As per research carried out so far, Indonesia has 176 types of bamboo varieties, or 11 percent of all bamboo varieties in the world, he added.

He said that all parts of bamboo can be used to improve the community's economy, but this requires processing using chemicals or technology.

Bamboo can be processed into raw materials for food, medicinal and health products, bamboo charcoal products, industrial materials, textiles, liquid smoke, as well as construction materials, he expounded.

According to him, a utilization strategy is needed to determine a suitable type of bamboo so that its use is optimal.

"Each bamboo has different benefits, so we cannot force this type of bamboo not to be used for construction, instead we use it for construction," he said.

Bamboo products can also be made into art products that have high selling value, he added.

"We have a micro business in Banyumas that makes carved bird cages and the prices are quite expensive. So, actually, from very cheap raw materials if there is a touch of design or technology, it will become an expensive item," he explained.

Bamboo also has important benefits for the environment, including increasing water volume, preventing erosion, absorbing emissions, producing oxygen, and tourism potential, he added.

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Translator: Ahmad Muzdaffar Fauzan, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Sri Haryati
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