Bambusa balcooa (Bhaluka)
A widely cultivated clumping bamboo for strong poles. KFRI's species database gives culms of 12 to 22 m and 6 to 15 cm across, with walls up to 2.5 cm thick. It needs good soil and assured water.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Bamboo
- Type
- Vegetatively propagated species
- Season
- All seasons
- Rotation age
- First cut year 4–5; full production year 7–8
- Expected yield
- No yield figure published; thick-walled culms of 12 to 22 m (KFRI)
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No disease data published
- Release
- A native Indian species, not a bred cultivar — a National Bamboo Mission priority species for cultivation
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Bambusa balcooa is a clumping bamboo found in Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and West Bengal and widely cultivated, including in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. KFRI's species database gives culms of 12 to 22 m and 6 to 15 cm across, with thick walls up to 2.5 cm, and lists building, handicrafts, edible shoots and pulp as uses. Plants come from offsets, culm cuttings or tissue-culture plantlets. KFRI gives its flowering cycle as 35 to 45 years.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Bambusa balcooa for strong, thick-walled poles on land that has good soil and assured water. KFRI's species database gives culms of 12 to 22 m and 6 to 15 cm across, with walls up to 2.5 cm thick, and lists building, handicrafts, edible shoots and pulp as uses. It is widely cultivated and has been introduced to Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Do not choose it for dry rainfed land, where Dendrocalamus strictus fits better. Settle the spacing before you buy plants. KFRI gives 5 x 5 m in one document and 7 x 7 m in another, and an ICAR trial in Arunachal Pradesh found 7 x 7 m gave the best culm productivity after 5 years.
Sowing & cultivation
- SpacingKFRI: 5 × 5 m (leaflet) to 7 × 7 m (species database). An ICAR trial in Arunachal Pradesh found 7 × 7 m (204 clumps/ha) best after 5 years; 5 × 5 m is 400 clumps/ha and 5 × 4 m is 500. For biomass and pulp, 3 × 3 to 2.5 × 2.5 m is also used
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Thick-walled, strong culms of 12 to 22 m for building, handicrafts and pulp (KFRI).
- Can be started from tissue-culture plantlets or culm cuttings.
Things to consider
- Needs good soil and assured water. It is not the bamboo for dry rainfed land, where Dendrocalamus strictus is the usual choice.
- KFRI gives 5 × 5 m in one document and 7 × 7 m in another, and an ICAR trial favoured 7 × 7 m, so settle this before you buy plants.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Assam
- West Bengal
- Tripura
- Karnataka
- Tamil Nadu
- Maharashtra
KFRI's spacings and an ICAR trial: choosing 5 x 5, 6 x 6 or 7 x 7 m
KFRI gives three answers for Bambusa balcooa: 5 x 5 m in its leaflet, 7 x 7 m in its species database, and 5 x 5 to 7 x 7 m on its spacing page. An ICAR trial at Basar in Arunachal Pradesh (2002 to 2006) also compared 5 x 5, 6 x 6 and 7 x 7 m and picked 7 x 7 m for this species. The ground each clump gets is 25 square metres at 5 x 5 m, 36 at 6 x 6 m and 49 at 7 x 7 m. That works out to 400, 278 and 204 clumps a hectare.
KFRI warns about both ends. If you plant too wide, the plot suffers from open canopy, lost soil moisture, weeds and fire risk for the first years. If you plant too close, the clumps compete for light, water and nutrients and the centre congests unless you thin every year. There is no number that is right for everyone.
Decide by water and labour, and let the trial be your default. On one mid-hill site, 7 x 7 m (204 clumps) gave the best culm productivity after 5 years, so start there. If you will irrigate and thin every year, 5 x 5 m or 5 x 4 m (500 clumps) is reasonable for poles. For biomass and pulp, keep 3 x 3 to 2.5 x 2.5 m. Lay out rows north to south, as KFRI advises, and use triangular spacing on a large plot.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Bamboo variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Rotation age | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bambusa balcooa (Bhaluka)this page | Farmers with good soil and assured water who plant bamboo for strong poles, construction and industry | First cut year 4–5; full production year 7–8 | No yield figure published; thick-walled culms of 12 to 22 m (KFRI) | Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra |
| Bambusa bambos (Kanta bans) | Farmers on dry or poor land in the south and centre who want a very strong, tall pole and can handle a thorny clump | First cut year 4–5 | No yield figure published; strong culms of 20 to 30 m (KFRI) | Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Odisha |
| Bambusa tulda (Jati bans) | Farmers in the humid North-East and East who sell to agarbatti, mat, basket and paper buyers | First cut year 4–5 | No yield figure published | Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland |
| Beema Bamboo | Farmers with assured irrigation who want uniform planting stock and will read a buy-back contract line by line | First cut year 4; heavy yield year 7–9 | No independent yield figure; the company claims a heavy yield in years 7 to 9 | Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat |
| Dendrocalamus asper (sweet bamboo) | Farmers near a shoot market who can give deep soil and water, and who plan the clump for shoots | Shoot harvest from year 3–4 | No yield figure published | Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram |
| Dendrocalamus hamiltonii (Kako bans) | Farmers in the hill states of the North-East and sub-Himalaya who want poles and edible shoots from one bamboo | First cut year 4–5 | No yield figure published | Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, West Bengal, Nagaland |
| Dendrocalamus strictus (male bamboo) | Farmers on dry, poor, rainfed land in central and eastern India, and anyone stabilising degraded or sloping land | First cut year 5–6 (slower on dry land) | About 3.5 t culms/ha a year from 400 clumps/ha (PROSEA); varies widely | Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand, Rajasthan |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Bamboo is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Bamboo plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Bamboo variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Bamboo into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Bamboo rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Frequently asked questions
Should I plant Bambusa balcooa at 5 x 5 m or 7 x 7 m?
KFRI gives both. Its leaflet says 5 x 5 m, its species database says 7 x 7 m, and its spacing page gives 5 x 5 to 7 x 7 m for medium bamboos of 8 to 15 cm. An ICAR trial helps decide. At the North-East hills centre at Basar, Arunachal Pradesh, 13 bamboo species were grown at 5 x 5, 6 x 6 and 7 x 7 m from 2002 to 2006, and 7 x 7 m gave the best culm productivity for Bambusa balcooa after 5 years. That is 204 clumps a hectare, against 278 at 6 x 6 m and 400 at 5 x 5 m. The trial did not test 5 x 4 m (500 clumps) and was on one mid-hill site, so with irrigation and yearly thinning a closer spacing may still work on your land.
When can I make the first cut, and how do I cut without hurting the clump?
KFRI says commercial harvest is usually possible 4 to 6 years after planting, and the first cut here is put at 4 to 5 years. Cut only mature culms, 3 years old or more. Never clear-fell. Leave at least 6 culms over one year old, spread evenly in the clump, and do not cut more culms than the new poles that came up last year. KFRI also asks you to cut low, leaving one internode above the ground, with a sharp saw or knife.
What is the difference between plain balcooa and Beema bamboo?
Beema Bamboo is a tissue-culture clone of Bambusa balcooa sold by Growmore Biotech, so it is the same species. The plain species is planted from offsets, culm cuttings or tissue-culture plantlets, and KFRI lists tissue culture and culm cuttings as its propagation routes. Beema comes with the company's claims and usually a contract. Plain balcooa costs less to start and is not tied to one seller. Compare quotes from both before you decide.
How big should the planting pit be, and when do I plant?
KFRI's size is 60 x 60 x 60 to 100 x 100 x 100 cm for rhizomes and 30 x 30 x 30 to 45 x 45 x 45 cm for culm cuttings and seedlings. Mix about 5 kg of compost or manure with the topsoil. The best planting time is the early rainy season, and in summer you must irrigate regularly. After planting, loosen the soil to a depth of 15 cm within 1 m of the plant, as KFRI advises, to help the rhizome spread.
When will a balcooa clump flower and die?
KFRI gives a flowering cycle of 35 to 45 years and lists flowering in Uttar Pradesh in 1986, Manipur in 1987 to 1988 and Bangladesh in 1983 to 1985. For a clump planted in 2026, that means roughly 2061 to 2071. The species flowers at long, irregular intervals. It is not a worry for a 10-year plan, but do not promise a buyer the same clump for 50 years.
Sourced from: Bambusa balcooa — KFRI Bamboo Technical Support Group species database, Spacing between bamboo plants — KFRI Bamboo Technical Support Group, Harvesting and yield of bamboo — KFRI Bamboo Technical Support Group, Bamboo cultivation leaflet — KFRI BTSG, National Bamboo Mission, Singh, Sarangi and Shukla, Effect of spacing on the early performance of selected bamboo species at a mid hill of Arunachal Pradesh, Indian Journal of Agroforestry 11(1), 2009. editorial policy.