Economy and Business

First bamboo-processing training center built in Sichuan

By Zhang Ao (China Daily Sichuan Bureau)
Updated: 2009-12-11 14:38
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The first Sichuan Bamboo-Processing Training Center opened Wednesday in the Sichuan Agricultural University of Dujiangyan, a city heavily damaged in last year's magnitude-8 earthquake.

The training center is part of the Sichuan Sustainable Bamboo-Processing Program, co-sponsored by the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), Citi China and the Sichuan Forestry Department. Its goal is to help local farmers take advantage of the rich local bamboo resources and use advanced technology to bolster their incomes.

The training center is totally made of bamboo, except for indispensable iron structures and bricks inside. Sinocalamus affinis, a local kind of bamboo, is used to make the walls, floors and decorations.

Since its establishment one year ago, the program has already trained 50 farmers in Chouzhou and Beichuan, another two Sichuan areas struck by earthquakes, to plant bamboo and process it

"The training center will provide great job opportunities for the local people and increase their incomes," said Jin Wei, an INBAR pogram officer.