Tiu-led group to embark on large-scale bamboo development

MANILA, Philippines — A group of businessmen led by Antonio Tiu and Isidro Alcantara is embarking on large-scale bamboo development, hoping to capitalize on the growing demand for bamboo products across the globe.

Tiu is president of listed Everwoods Green Resources and Holdings Inc., formerly Ever Gotesco, which is making a shift to agri-tourism and is now developing a bamboo project in Batangas. Everwoods will partner with farmers for a bamboo nursery project as well as a processing facility to employ locals to do furniture and decorative pieces made of bamboo.

These products, in turn, will be exported to capture a slice of the global bamboo market.

Tiu, who is also behind Agrinurture Inc. and Greenergy, took over Ever Gotesco in 2019 as part of his vision of creating a group of sustainable and green-oriented companies with synergies in the fintech, agri-tourism and agri-business industries.

Alcantara, who is set to join the board of Everwoods, meanwhile, has been a pioneering advocate of bamboo farming.

He said bamboo has now become a  $70-billion global industry, of which 50 percent of annual production value comes from China.

For their project, Alcantara said the plan is to invite investors for large-scale bamboo plantation and to put up a bamboo product processing and manufacturing facility to maximize the value of bamboo.

“We cannot stop at planting alone but must evolve into value-added processing. That’s where the real contribution to the economy, job creation and income upliftment will come from,” he said.

Bamboo has a wide range of applications and growing relevance, from food to energy. It  is an effective tool in addressing soil erosion, landslides, and flooding which are the common disasters in any mine site.

Alcantara, formerly the president of Marcventures Mining and Development Corp., is behind the pioneering advocacy of bamboo farming as the heart of the company’s mining rehabilitation program.

He said bamboo is considered to have the highest potential for maximum benefits to the environment and livelihood as it can release up to 35 percent more oxygen than any other trees, and sequester up to 12 metric tons of carbon dioxide per hectare.

The planting cycle for bamboo is five years but he said that as early as two to three years, bamboo can already be harvested.

In 2018, The STAR reported that Marcventures developed a bamboo program as part of its rehabilitation of the communities where it operates.

Bamboo has approximately 1,500 uses. It is even sturdier than some wood species, and is considered an excellent building material.

High value bamboo products include drainage pipes, wind turbines, shipping containers, textiles, wood and construction materials, roofing etc.

According to the Philippine Bamboo Foundation Inc.,  some bamboo species can withstand 52,000 pounds per square inch  before reaching breaking point, almost close  to that of steel with 60,000 psi.

Alcantara said bamboo farming and product manufacturing has high potential for economic development.

He cited a study by the Beijing-based International Network for Bamboo and Rattan which shows that the annual income per hectare of bamboo could reach P92,000 per hectare.

“At 10 hectares, this could give a mine worker’s family almost P1 million in annual income or four times their annual salary,” Alcantara said.