Timber and Firewood for Rural Uses

A large majority of the Indian population live in villages with agriculture as the principal occupation. Their requirements of timber and firewood for various purposes have been assessed. They need annually about 65 million cubic feet of round timber, and 5300 million cubic feet of firewood. The rural population are now using only 2,000 million cubic feet of firewood. Cowdung and agricultural wastes equivalent to 3,300 million cubic feet of firewood are being burnt by them. Some suggestions as how best to meet the requirement have been given.