We mostly work with farmers with small and medium sized land holdings. Most of them practiced sustenance agriculture and were struggling to make ends meet.
Naturally, they were hesitant to plant Bamboo and partner with Artison. Slowly but surely, after addressing their concerns and apprehensions, the farmers started planting bamboo seedlings. Initially, the plantation was restricted to 2 or 3 acres, since it took 5 years for a Bamboo pole to fully mature.
The beauty of bamboo is that it allows for agro-forestry and multi-cropping, i.e., planting other crops along with bamboo. With the farmer’s lands being used for 5 whole years, they can, in fact, earn substantial returns. Once Artison trained farmers on these methods, they started planting Bambusa bambos (katang) on their entire holdings.
As of today, our farmers earn 1-1.2 lakh per acres annually. This is because a mature Bambusa bamboo (katang) pole regrows to full height every year for 80 years. This income and stability has transformed the lives of our farmers.
