The many uses and benefits of sweet bamboo

Compiled by AUSTIN CAMOENS, JAROD LIM and R. ARAVINTHA

SWEET bamboo has been turned into a cash crop by a woman in Kampung Gemang in Jeli, Berita Harian reported.

Azlinee A. Kadir, 34, become the first planter of this particular bamboo, scientifically known as Bambusa beecheyana, in the peninsula.

Her initial capital was RM60,000 to buy seeds and plant the bamboo. Her 2.4ha farm now has 480 clumps.

“The uniqueness of this sweet bamboo is that it can be used as animal feed for cattle, horse and fish as it contains a high level of fibre, in addition to being used in the field of medicine,” she said.

Azlinee is in no rush to harvest as she wants her bamboo to multiply.

“It is not difficult because it only requires three steps which are planting, allowing it to grow and harvesting. Mature bamboo can reach a height of 12.2m with a girth of 12cm to 20cm and weighs up to 40kg,” she said.

Azlinee said she got the idea to plant sweet bamboo after her husband, who has been raising freshwater fish for more than four years, found it too expensive to buy fish feed and needed an alternative. She started researching the benefits of sweet bamboo and found that it could be used as fish food.

“My efforts are worth it because in addition to being able to save money on buying fish food, it attracted the attention of several local universities to carry out research and development on bamboo-based products,” she said.She added that based on the research conducted, sweet bamboo could be processed into vegetable oil and after a year, the leaves on the bamboo could be made into tea to treat stroke patients in addition to using it for kidney detoxification.

> The only child of 1980s-era actress Norlida Ahmad or Connie is upset over false news about her mother’s health, Harian Metro reported.

Ally Marisha Afrina Abdullah, 24, said she that was upset after rumours about her 64-year-old mother’s condition were reported by entertainment portals and social media platforms such as TikTok.

“My family is disappointed with the statements that are going viral. I hope no party takes the opportunity to spread false news and slander against my mother,” she said.

Ally said her mother’s surgery last Saturday was a success with doctors being able to remove 400ml of pus from her kidney.

She said her mother was recovering and that she could get up and stand on her own.

“So, I hope such slanderous and false news will no longer be spread. Please respect the feelings of our family,” she said.

The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.