BHARDWAJ, D.R.SANJEEV KUMAR2016-07-202016-07-202010http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/69005ABSTRACT The present investigations entitled, “Studies on distribution, growth and biological yield potential of bamboos in Himachal Pradesh” was carried out in the low and mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh. For conducting the present investigations, low and mid hills of Himachal Pradesh in which the bamboos occurs naturally and also raised by the farming community in abundance, was divided in to four altitudinal gradients viz., <500, 500-900, 900-1300 and 1300-1700m asl, to know the distribution, growth and biological yield potential of bamboo along these elevation ranges. The leaves and tender shoots of bamboo species growing in low and mid hills conditions of Himachal Pradesh were subjected to analysis of their respective traits. The study revealed that there are only two genera viz., Dendrocalamus and Bambusa are present in the entire study area. Overall there are five species three from the Dendrocalamus and two belong to the Bambusa genus. The species found in the study area are D. hamiltonii, D. hookri var Parshii, D. strictus, Bambusa arundinacea and B. nutans distributed from 300 m asl to 1700m asl. All the species displayed their best growth performance in the 500 – 900 m asl elevation range. Among the species the best distribution was observed for D. hamiltonii and least for D. hookri var parshii. Present investigation also highlighted the regeneration, management and utilization status of the all the bamboo species in the entire study area. The study also reveals that all the growth parameters hold good relationship with the site characters. In the another experiment of tender bamboo shoots, the study revealed that nutritional attributes of tender bamboo shoots varied markedly among different species of bamboo. The moisture, dry matter, crude protein, fat, carbohydrates, and the P and Mg content in different bamboo species varied from 91.41 to 92.53 per cent, 7.69 to 8.54 per cent, 17.86 to 24.33 per cent, 0.30 to 0.47 per cent, 2.34 to 5.21 per cent, 32.59 to 39.59 mg/100g and 26.19 to 58.41mg /100g, respectively. The finding indicates that best nutritional traits were found in D. hamiltonii & B. nutans. Best time of harvest for the edible shoots is September and the height is 15±2 cm but from yield point of view 25±2 cm is the best. In the nutritional analysis of leaf samples to standardize the lopping period, the study reveals that the bamboo leaf contains 56.84 to 77.12 percent dry matter, 15.06% to 17.30 percent crude protein, 2.77% to 6.90% ether extract, 32.71 to 44.83% NFE. The study concludes that from fodder point of view B. arundinacea is the best species whereas mineral content are good in D. hamiltonii. All the parameters are better in the month of December than other months.enforest products, biomass, biological development, biological phenomena, developmental stages, vegetables, harvesting, marketing, layering, dryingBamboos, Biological yield PotentialThesis