Criteria for the selection of firewood species

Criteria to be used for the selection of firewood species in an agroforestry system are as follows:

• Easy to propagate
• Easy to plantation establishment, care and management
• Adopt well in different ecological conditions and in problem soils such as nutrient deficit soils, toxic soils, sloping areas and dry areas
• Have special desirable characteristics such as
  1. Nitrogen fixing ability (legume species and Uttis trees etc)
  2. Rapid growth with more branches
  3. Coppicing rapidly after firewood cutting
• Deep rooted system with few lateral roots
• Light shading effects to companion agriculture crops
• Have good quality for imparting sustainability of fire wood production
• High survival rate even in poor soils and in drought areas
• Multi-purpose uses for high per unit production
• Very good ability of producing wood of high calorific value that burns without sparks or toxic fumes/smoke. The calorific values of some firewood species are as follows:
  1. Albizia lebbek (Siris) 5163-5166 Kcal/kg
  2. Eucalyptus spp (Masala) 3172-5680 Kcal/kg
  3. Leucaena leucocephala (Ipil-Ipil) 4200-4600 Kcal/kg
  4. Dalbergia sissoo (Sissoo) 4908-5181 Kcal/kg
• Species of high demand and market value
• Resistant to insects, pests and diseases
• Be capable of improving micro-sites