Abstract
A survey was conducted on demand and supply of fuelwood in the Majuli subdivision of Jorhat district of Assam. People of the area are mainly rural and cultivation is the main source of livelihood. A total of 490.30 tons of fuelwood is extracted annually. The share of supply of fuelwood from homestead, bamboo stead and forest is 88%, 7% and 5% respectively. The per capita extraction of fuelwood in the region is 613 kg yr-1. The total consumption of fuelwood is 375.63 t yr-1. Out of this, 89% is mainly consumed in cooking, 9% in community function and rest 2% in cremation. The per capita consumption of fuelwood is 470 kg yr-1 in the region. There is a huge amount of fuel wood i.e. 114.67 tons is found to be surplus in the region that counts 30.53 percent of the total consumption. The per capita surplus of fuelwood is 143 kg yr-1. A total of 19 species of fuelwood are in use in the area. Out of which, the most preferred fuel wood species is Melia azedarach (Ghora neem) followed by Albizia lucida (Moj).
Keywords
Community function, Commodities, Stratified random sampling, Horticulture, Kutcha, Bamboo stead, Per capita