Like other developing countries, the
focal point of the planning activities in Bangla
desh has been to achieve maximum rate of
economic development with the available
resources. But because of the nagative rate
of national savings of about four percent of
national income (Faaland and Parkinson 1976)
and the resultant paucity of investible resources,
the poor level of net resource transfer
from agriculture to industry and improper use
of renewable resources the economy has remained
structurally stagnant over time. The
basis for developing least cost and prospective
industrial units using and reprocessing
indigenous resources was not properly esta

Bara bet (a variety of Rattan), an important
minor forest produce, is a valuable
raw material for the cottage industries of
Bangladesh. It, usually, is an undergrowth
in the natural forests of Bangladesh and other
tropical forests of the world. The natural
forests, in the present practice, are clear felled
and replanted with some major timber species.
As a result, the population of this natural
undergrowth is diminishing gradually. So,
to maintain and replenish the stock of this
group of plants, a proper investigation of
sexual periodicity and seed germination is
of importance. To start with, a study was
undertaken on the flowering periodicity and

Forests of Bangladesh, composed of many
indigenous species, are being exploited for
the past hundred years. Demand for forest
produce in the local and international markets
has increased manifold owing to the increase
in the national, as well as, in the world
population. Forestry planners in Bangladesh
are giving attention to the replacement of the
natural forests by the planted and selected
species which can ensure higher yield of timber,
fuelwood and other forest produce including
raw materials for woodbased industries.
For the purpose of large scale reforestation
and afforestation programme production
of healthy seedlings are necessary. Comprehensive
knowledge of the nutritional
requirements of seedlings of various species
would, therefore, be helpful for the production
of healthy seedlings in the forest nurseries
using optimum fertilizer doses. On the other
hand, this knowledge may also be utilized as
a reliable basis for the diagnosis of nutritional

In the wake of plausible expulsion threat
from the plain forests of Dacca-Mymensingh
areas and the northern zone of Bangladesh
due to expanding population pressure, the
necessity, scope and arguments for afforestation
of Unclassed State Forests (USF) is now
much more genuine, wider and stronger respectively
than before. These USF areas
constitute a large tract of contiguous land,
free from the vices of legal complications
and from all norms of scientific land use,
land classification and land capability considera
tions, should be devoted to forestry. This
should not be viewed as merely an argument
for increasing forest areas but be taken as
a legitimate and just demand of the land
itself. Moreover, when Bangladesh is under
a population pressure of nearly one thousand
persons per square mile, the highest in
the world, it is unpardonable, with the present
knowledge of scientific land use, to

Bangladesh is a young country but its
forestry traditions date back to the midnineteenth
century. According to the Government
two year (1978-80) approach plan,
the area of state owned forest managed by
the Forest Department is 1.32 million ha
(3.25 million acres). There is also 0.906-
million ha (2.4 million acres) of unstocked
hill forest under the administration of the
district authority of Chittagong Hill Tracts,
most of which is only usable for raising
forest crops. The major objectives of the
approach plan, and indeed of plans for future
years, are the accelerated exploitation coupled
with the establishment of plantations.

Keora, Sonneratia apetala, Ham. is a mangrove
species of the Sundarbans and coastal
areas of Bangladesh. It is a moderate sized
tree, which in the Sunderbans grows to 7 ft
in girth with a 25 ft bole ;
ing 4 ft in girth with a
somewhat lustrous with smooth feel without
characteristic odour or taste. It is light,,
shallowly interlocked grained in broad bands,
fine-and even-textured. Its a timber is moderately
hard and moderately durable (Pearson and
Brown 1932). Preliminary investigations carried
out by the Timber Physics Division, Forest
Reserach Institute, show that Keora has a dry
volume specific gravity of 0.6 and a modulus of

Seven bamboo clumps, locally known as Baijjya
bansh, (‘Batnbtisa vulgaris Schrad.) flowered
in the village Faridarpara near Bardarhat area
of Chittagong town. Flowering started during
February, 1979 in all these clumps. Out of the
seven clumps, five flowered completely and
died within 18 months. The remaining two
clumps were found to be part-flowering in
nature and were still in healthy and green
condition, even after three years of flowering.
Flowering which started during February, in
both the part – and the complete-flowering
clumps continued till August-September
with a pause from October to January.
Flushes during flowering period were not
purely continuous but it alternated with short
interflushing gaps of 5 to 12 days.

G^r]an.(Dipterocarpnsspp.) is the principal
species for railway sleepers in Bangladesh.
Wide and extensive use of this species has
already posed such a serious problem that
its supply is not adequate to meet the requirement
of the railway. As a result, sleepers are
being imported to alleviate the supply shortage.
It has, therefore, become essential to
find out other suitable indigenous species.
Considering its mechanical properties and

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Culm-sheaths as well as other vegetative
parts are generally used for the identification
of species of bamboos because flowering
occurs at long intervals. Identification of
species in this group was originally based on
floral characters and where these characters
were lacking or found to be inadequate,
the culm-sheath characters were taken into
consideration. Subsequently, keys were prepared
on the basis of culm-sheath characters
(Chatterji and Raizada 1963). Such keys are
difficult to follow and sometimes confusing.
This is partly due to the lack of proper and
adequate descriptions of culm-sheaths and
partly due to considerable variation existing
in the culm-sheaths themselves even in the
same culm(Peal 1882)-a point that has always