Bamboo seeds as a means to sustenance of the indigenous community

Abstract

Bamboo is a natural gift for human livelihood. Bamboo has the peculiarity of flowering and seeding only after a long vegetative phase, and it varies from species to species. The present paper deals with the use of seeds of Bambusa arundinacea Willd. by the Kani tribes of Kanyakumari district, southern western Ghats. Method of seed collection, storage and mode of consumption by indigenous people have been described. The indigenous community not only uses the seeds as a food, but also as commercial commodity to improve the economy. The Kani tribes believe that the seeds of Bambusa arundinacea enhance the fertility, so that there is great demand of seeds of this species in pharmaceutical industry to manufacture drugs to improve fertility.