Bambusa bambos (Kanta bans)
The giant thorny bamboo, also called Bambusa arundinacea. KFRI's species database gives thick-walled culms of 20 to 30 m, and lists building, scaffolding, furniture, pulp and edible shoots as uses. The thorns make clump work slow.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Bamboo
- Type
- Vegetatively propagated species
- Season
- All seasons
- Rotation age
- First cut year 4–5
- Expected yield
- No yield figure published; strong culms of 20 to 30 m (KFRI)
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- Disease resistance
- No disease data published; flowers once in 30 to 49 years and the clump then dies
- Release
- A native Indian species and National Bamboo Mission priority species; no bred cultivar
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Bambusa bambos, also written Bambusa arundinacea, is the giant thorny bamboo. KFRI's species database calls it widely distributed and cultivated throughout India, with tufted, thick-walled culms of 20 to 30 m. It is used for building, scaffolding, furniture, handicrafts, pulp and paper, and the young shoots are eaten. KFRI reports flowering cycles of 30 to 49 years. After flowering the clump dies and the stand has to be replanted.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Bambusa bambos if you want a very strong, tall pole and can live with thorns. KFRI's species database lists thick-walled culms of 20 to 30 m, widely distributed and cultivated across India, with building, scaffolding, furniture, pulp and edible shoots among the uses. Choose Bambusa tulda or Dendrocalamus strictus instead if thorns make harvest labour hard to find. Settle the spacing first. KFRI gives 6 x 6 m in one document, 10 x 10 m in the species database and 700 clumps a hectare for timber stands in another, and an ICAR trial found 5 x 5 m best for young clumps.
Sowing & cultivation
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Very strong, tall culms for heavy building and scaffolding (KFRI).
- Widely distributed and cultivated throughout India, and the young shoots can be eaten.
Things to consider
- The thorns make weeding, thinning and cutting inside the clump slow and awkward.
- A crowded, un-thinned clump fills with dead culms and becomes hard to enter.
- Flowers once in 30 to 49 years, and the clump then dies.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Kerala
- Karnataka
- Tamil Nadu
- Maharashtra
- Odisha
Cutting a thorny clump: KFRI's harvest rules, one at a time
Thorns make every mistake in harvest more expensive, so follow the rules in order. First, choose the season: KFRI says cut after the monsoon, between January and May, and not in the monsoon months, when cutting damages young shoots and slows the clump. Second, choose the culms: only mature ones of 3 years or more, and no clear felling, which turns a clump bushy.
Third, count before you cut. Leave at least 6 culms over one year old, spread evenly through the clump, and take no more culms than the number of new poles that came up the year before. Paint the new culms each year in a different colour, as KFRI suggests, so a worker can read the age without guessing.
Fourth, cut low with a sharp saw or knife, one internode above the ground, to avoid splitting the culm. Fifth, clear the clump of all dead and dry bamboo and the cutting debris. In a thorny clump that debris fills the centre and blocks the next harvest. Thick gloves and boots are sensible for the crew, and budget more labour days a hectare than for a thornless bamboo.
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) | 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)this page | 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
How wide should I plant Bambusa bambos?
The documents disagree. KFRI's leaflet says 6 x 6 m, about 278 clumps a hectare. Its species database says 10 x 10 m, 100 clumps. Its spacing page puts large bamboos of over 15 cm at 7 x 7 to 10 x 10 m, and also proposes 700 clumps a hectare for timber stands. PROSEA, the SE Asia bamboo reference, reports no tested distance for this species but says 6 x 6 m seems appropriate. An ICAR trial at Basar, Arunachal Pradesh (2002 to 2006) grew Bambusa arundinacea, the same bamboo, at 5 x 5, 6 x 6 and 7 x 7 m and found 5 x 5 m (400 clumps) best by culm productivity after 5 years. That covers young clumps only. PROSEA notes that an undisturbed clump becomes almost impenetrable after some years, so plan thinning whatever spacing you pick.
How long before the clump flowers and dies?
KFRI lists reported flowering cycles of 30 to 34, 30 to 45 and 44 to 49 years, with flowering recorded in Kerala, Karnataka, the Satpuras and elsewhere, from 1874 to 1995. A clump planted in 2026 would flower between about 2056 and 2075. After flowering the clump dies. KFRI notes that seed kept cool and dry stays viable for about 3 years, but plan a replanting rather than a seed bank.
Is kanta bans the same as Bambusa arundinacea?
Yes. KFRI lists Bambusa arundinacea (Retz.) Willd. as a synonym of Bambusa bambos, so papers that use either name mean the same bamboo. Local names include mullu mula in Kerala, mungil in Tamil Nadu, daba in Odisha and nal bans in Punjab. When you order plants, give the botanical name Bambusa bambos and the local name so the nursery sends the right species.
How do I keep a thorny clump from clogging up?
Follow KFRI's harvest rules. Cut mature culms of 3 years or more, leave at least 6 culms over one year old, and cut low with one internode left above the ground. Remove all dead and dry bamboo and the cutting debris from the clump, because it fills the centre and makes the next harvest harder. Cut between January and May, after the monsoon, as KFRI advises.
Can I sell the shoots of Bambusa bambos?
KFRI lists edible shoots among its uses, and they are a traditional food. Cut shoots at 15 to 50 cm tall with a sharp, clean knife, without hurting the mother rhizome, and leave the strongest few to grow into new culms. In a thorny clump the cutting is slow. Count the labour before you promise a shoot buyer a regular supply.
Sourced from: Bambusa bambos — 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, PROSEA Bamboos: Bambusa bambos. editorial policy.