Fuelwood from wastelands

The only alternative to meet the fuelwood crisis, is the exploitation of wasteland which is estimated to be about 93 m ha. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's announcement to utilize about 5 m ha of wasteland for afforestation is not only timely to halt the forces of environmental degradation but a major step to decentralise the process of rural development which centres around the supply of fuelwood to a large extent.

Large number of potential species are known which could be taken up for plantations but only few like a Eucalyptus, Leucaena, Acacias and Casuarina are mainly grown. What are the species appropriate to specific difficult lands like water-logged soils, sand-dunes, saline and alkali soils, ravine lands, rocky, laterite and lateritic soils, clayey soils, coastal areas, arid and semi-arid lands and cold deserts? Which species can be planted under different climatic zones like dry, moist or wet temperate, sub-tropic or tropical areas? Which species are multi-purpose to meet at variety of needs-fuel, food, feed, fibre, erosion control and soil improvement, medicines and industrial chemicals, gums, pulp and timber? Which species could be exploited for carbonization? Some efforts were made to collect, compile and integrate, the information available in the literature in the earlier publication Energy from Biomass published by Agricole Publishing Academy, New Delhi, but detailed treatise of each species is essentially called for in order to make the best use of these natural N-fixers. The present manual is, therefore, aimed at to meet this fillip and serve the students, teachers, entrepreneurs, administrators and policy makers interested in selecting, recommending and adopting suitable species in problem soils.