One of the things we planned was a participatory workshop with a group of farmers to talk about a particular bamboo species (Dendrocalamus giganteus, or Giant Bamboo). The supply of Giant Bamboo is limited, and it's propagation difficult, so we sat down with farmers from a village called Pang Deng Nai to talk about ways we might resolve the propagation problems. For those of you unfamiliar with participatory techniques, these are tools used in community development basically to help discussion and to encourage communities to take charge of their own development. If you want know more about participatory techniques, there's numerous books, articles and websites available with more information which I can send to you.
So we spent the morning and afternoon talking, and then together came up with a plan for small experimental trial to test various ideas and see if we can't improve our ability to propagate this somewhat elusive species. We stayed in Pang Deng Nai overnight, and the next day set up the experiment with the group of farmers. We should know in a couple of months if anything we tried worked or not, and although I will not be in Thailand at that time, I'm excited about what's happened so far, and eager to hear how the trial turns out.
Discussing Giant Bamboo propagation
Lunch is served.
The trial design with input from farmers and UHDP staff
Preparing to collect Giant Bamboo propagating material
Setting up the propagating material
