bamboo

Bamboo is one of the most useful plants on earth. It is used all over the world for food, building materials, medicine, musical instruments, paper, clothing and transportation. In India, it can also predict upcoming famine. India is now working on an emergency plan to deal with a famine that is expected to occur two years from now when vast forests of bamboo burst into flower.

Some species of bamboo flower only every 40 to 50 years. These periods of flowering can lead to the destruction of basic crops and cause widespread famine in areas of India where bamboo grows heavily.
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