New Economic Geography of Bangladesh 9780706904048

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A New

Economic Geography of Bangladesh

NAFISAHMAD 'l'

VIKAS PUBLISHING HOUSE PVT LTD NEW DELHI

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BOMBAY

BANGALORE

KANPUR

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Vl KAS PUBLISHING HOUSE PVT LTD S Daryaganj. Ansari Road. New Delhi 110002 Savoy Chambers. 5 Wallace Street, Bombay 400001 10 First Main Road, Gandhi Nagar. Bangalore S60009 80 Canning Road, Kanpur 208004

COPYRIGHT

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NAFIS AHMAD,

1976

ISBN O 7069 0404 4

PRINTED IN INDIA At Prominent Printers, K-9. Naveen Shahdara. Delhi J10032, and published by Mrs Sharda Chawla, Vikas J>ublishing House Pvt Ltd, S Daryaganj, Ansari Road, New Delhi 110002

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to the People of Bangladesh

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toreword Professor Nafis Ahmad has honoured me by inviting me to write a Foreword to his book and I gladly accept his invitation. I have read the book in manuscript and. have been privileged to offer a few suggestions, but what is abundantly clear is that Bangladesh could have no more competent or more sympathetic student and expositor than Professor Ahmad. He was called to establish the Department of Geography in the University of Dacca, where in due course he became professor. His earlier book, An Economic Geography of East Pakistan, which gathered up the results of his researches, established his authority internationally, and this book, a natural sequel to that earlier one, brings the story up to date. The description, originally applied to Ireland, as ''a distressful country,'' might equally appropriately be applied to Bangladesh. Here is a country essentially of far-stretching flood plains created, and still being created, by mighty rivers subject to the vagaries of the monsoon rains. Life is adjusted to the annual flooding of enormous areas of productive farm land, but not to the recurrent variations of the rains and the floods from excess to deficiency or to the cyclonic storms that spread devastation over vast areas every few years. On this land of such high risks lives such an exceedingly dense agricultural population that farms are prevailingly tiny and incomes so low that there ia little margin available to cushion bad times or to build up some capital-all the more serious in that few ~untries are so heavily dependent on agriculture. The fact that modtrn industrialization is still in its early sta~ teftects in part the political history of the last few centuries and in part the lack of coal resources that was critical in the later ~~tt or the 19th centui'y. Politically the area passed from the dom1ruon the Mugbals to that of Britain• from Britain to become part of Pakistan and from Pakistan to its recently acquired independence.

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viii Foreword Under the Mughals and in the earlier British phase it had an international reputation for its craftsmanship, most especially, but far from exclusively, for its gossamer-fine muslins. The rise of factory industry in Britain destroyed the handicraft industries and the later industrialization of Calcutta denied opportunity to East Bengal until it became East Pakistan. So industrialization in a modern sense made a late start, but has made some growth and promises to afford both supplement and support to the agriculture that will continue, to be the mainstay of the country for as long as can be foreseen. The latest episode has been tragic. Dissatisfaction with Pakistan brought serious troubles, culmi11ating in full-scale war, both the preliminary unrest and the war causing widespread, ~eavy damage. So the newly emergent state was faced not only with the production problems inherent in the physical, including climatic, conditions and in a population growing faster than food production. but with the repairing of the war damage. Even if large-scale international aid is received, the struggle will be severe, demanding great wisdom, energy and resolution from the government and great effort and endurance from the people. The saga of Bangladesh is the theme of Professor Ahmad's book. One could wish no better guide than he to how the country came to be what it is, how it is meeting its present difficulties and how its further development should proceed.

R. OoILVIE

BucHANAN

Departme11t of Geography, London School of Economics and Political Science

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List of Maps 1. l 1.2 1.3 J. J 1.2 1.3

Bangladesh in South and Southeast Asia Partition-1947 Administrative Divisions, 1974 Rivers and Relief Geological Features-Generalized Physiographic Divisions 1.4a Rainfall-Mean Annual and Nor•westers J 4b Monsoon Rainfall and Climatic Divisions 1. S Soils- Generalized 2.1 Main Industries and Crops- 1765 and 1840 3. J Distribution of Rice and Aman Rice 3.3 Distribution of Aus and Boro Rice 3.2 Distribution of Jute and the Jute Belts 3.4 Distribution of Sugar-cane and Tobacco 3.S Distribution of Wheat and Betelnuts 3.6 Land Utilization (by Districts) 4. J Forest Areas 6.1 Distribution of Large Industries-1974 6.2 Jute: Presses and Mills-1974 7.1 Inland Waterways and Water Transport 7.2 Railways and Roads-1974 8.1 Distribution of Population-1971 8.2 Density of Population 8.3 Urban and Rural Population (by Districts) 8.4 Growth of Towns-1901-71 9.1 Environs of Dacca and Narayaoganj 9.2 Environs of Chittagong 9.3 Environs of Khulna 9.4 Economic Development and Industrial Reaions 9.5 Floodina and Drainaao

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Facing page 1

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List of Tables I Production and yield of major crops (Average-1965-66 to 1969-70) 64 64 II Crop Production, 1972-73 III Rice (Clean)-Area and Production, 1972-73 66 71 IV Land under Paddy-1947-48 to 1973-74 76 V Jute-Yield and Area (Average)-By Leading Districts 78 VI Sugar-cane-Area, Production and Yield-1947-48 to 1972-73 VII Production of Sugar-cane, 1972·73, by districts 78 VIII Land Utilization (million acres), 1969-70 94 103 IX Rice Prices Per Maund (82 lb) 105 X Size of Agricultural Holdings (Farms) 108-9 XI Forests-Divisions, Subdivisions and Rang:s XII Forest Products-1947 to 1967-68 119 XIII Natural Gas Reserves 124 XIV Thermal Power Stations, 1973-74 127 xv Thermal Power-Isolated Installations 127 XVI Sugar Mills, 1973·74 137 XVII Production in Some Public Sector Industries, 1969-70 and 1972-73 142 XVIII Tea Export, 1973-74 164 XIX Exports of Jute, 1969-70 and 1972-73 166 xx Export Earnings by Major Commodities, 1972-73 (including barter) 169 XXI Cost of Imports, 1972-73 (including barter) 169 XXII Bangladesh and Other Countries with Largest Population in the World 173 XXIII Population (Divisions), 1961 173 XXIV Variation of Population and Density, 1881 to 1972 177 XXV Variation of Population, 1901 to 1961 (by Districts) 177 178 XXVI Density of Population, 1872 to 1961 (by Districts) XXVII Area, Population and Density, 1951 and 1961 (by Districts) 181 XXVIII Rural and Urban Population, 1951 and 1961 (by districts) 182 XXIX Rapidly Growing Towns 186 XXX Classification of Towns 189 XXXI Bangladesh and Other Countries- Rice Yields Per Acre in lb 196 XXXII Prices of Essential Commodities in Dacca, 1974 and 1975 (in taka) 209

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Glossary GENERAL Agbani Anna Bao Bele doasb Belc mad Bbadoi Bisha Bil Bund Char Doash Entel

Paddy Pali-mati Rabi Ryot Seer Taungya

Winter crop harvested in December and January One-sixteenth of a rupee Forest Sandy loam Sandy soil Crop harvested from August to September About ooe-thlrd of an acre Marsh or lake Dam, a field embankment Newly formed sandy alluvial tract Loam Uterally means sticky, hence is commonly used for clayey soils which are verY sticky Clayey loam Clarified butter Leaves of wild date-palm Unrefined Indian or Pakistan sugar; Jassery Depressed water-filled areas of Sylhet plain Shifting and temporarY cultivation in junsle or fore st clearing on hills Nodules of limestone found in the soil. In Indian geology used for carbonetic concretions Narrow natural channel of water Estate owned and managed directly by government Chickling vetch (lathyrus sativus). A kind of lentil or dal Measure or weight vaeying in different localities and sometimes for different commodities. The standard (railway and agricul· tural) maund is 82.244 lb Unhusked rice (Oryza sativa) Silt Winter sown and spring harvested crop Tenant cultivator Weight-one fortieth of a standard maund. Usually 2.057 lb Temporary cultivation in forest clearinss. Usually timber trees

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Entel doash Ghee Golpatta Our Haors Jhum Kantar

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Maund

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xiv

Glossary

are systematically planted before cultivation ceases Practised extensively in Burma Thana Police station or revenue unit Til Sesamum (sesamum lndicum) Zamindar Landowner; peasant proprietor JUTE PRODUCTION, TRADE, AND INDUSTRY Aratdar Seller of commodities on behalf of the growers and middlemen, with godowns for hire for storage of jute and other goods Baler Dealer who used to buy loose jute through his own agents or others and after grading and assortment prepared machine pressed bales of 400 lb each. He used to sell his stock to shippers Barky (of jute fibre) containing epidermic bark which bas escaped removal by washing Bepari Jute dealer who bad no godown of his own. He carried on bis business at the places of mahajans and aratdars for which he paid a commission Chat Coarse hessian cloth Cuttings Portions of jute cut from off the root of top ends of fibre which is hard, mossy or barky at the bottom end, while weak at the top end Dalal Agent or broker Diarah land Same as char land, from the Persian word Faria or Petty jute buyer who went about from house of the cultivators Paikar or to the interior markets to buy the fibre which he supplied to bigger purchasers Gun Chat or hessian of ~finer quality. The word gunny is derived from it Gunny Present common term for hcssian or sacking cloth or for gunny bags Kachcha Loosely pressed jute bale intended for dispatch to the balers bale of pucca presses. Generally two and a half maunds in weight Pucca bale Strongly pressed bale by steam power, containing 400 lb of fibre meant for export. Each bale measures ten cubic feet in volume Retting Process of decomposition of epidermic bark of the Plant immersed in water for separating the fibre from the woody stump Sacking Coarse woven jute cloth intended chiefly for gunny bags

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Preface Bangladesh emerged as a new nation in December 1971. Though a small country with an area of 55,126 square miles it is among the most densely populated parts of tl1e world, ranking eighth in population with about 75 million people. Situated on the eastern flank of the Indian subcontinent, Bangladesh lies at the cross-roads of South and Southeast Asia. The land is laced with rivers and streams which constitute the mighty delta of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna. More water flows through Bangladesh rivers than down the Mississippi or the Indus. Perhaps the only comparison that may be made is with the mighty Amazon. About one-third of the land is under water each year after the monsoon floods; cyclones and violent storms are familiar natural hazards. Millions of people in Bangladesh face the rigours of their environment, but love their land and call it Sonar Bang/a (Golden Bengal). Its rice lands spread as a vast, emerald green; its jute fields yield the golden fibre, and boats with multicoloured sails float down meandering rivers to create a scene of exquisite natural beauty. In the pre-industrial age the land was noted for both its greenry and wealth. The Roman writer of the Perip/us of the Erythrean Sea called it an emporium of articles of great commercial value ranging from cotton cloth to sugar, honey and rice. The Mughal Emperor Humayun was almost bewildered at the sight of luxuries in Bengal. According to the historian Rizq-ullab Mushtaqi, the Emperor found in every nook and corner of Bengal a paradise inhabited by houries and full of luxurious places with tremendous display of wealth and artistic taste. He was reluctant to return from Bengal. Abul Fazl's A.in-I-Akbari written a little later depicted a similar picture. lbn Battuta remarked that it was hell (because of the heat and humidity) filled with riches and the good things of life. Thµs Bangladesh was rich, fertile and industrially famous for

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xvi Preface its crafts and items of luxury. The English regarded it as a highly prized conquest. Progressively, it was reduced to a mere hinterland of Calcutta. During the Pakistan period (1947-71), some progress was made economically and industrially, but there was still a backlog of development. After the travails of war and destruction, Bangladesh is now saddled with a host of problems. This book deals with the resources of Bangladesh, salient features of its physical and human geography, and the process of economic development in the past. It then discusses attempts at modernity and organization of its material resources at present. Many gaps are to be filled and much headway to be made. The basic problems of Bangladesh need a fuller understanding. I am grateful to the Oxford University Press, London, for permission to use some material from my earlier work, An Economic Geography of East Pakistan. Thanks are due to Professor· Emeritus R.O. Buchanan of the London School of Economics and Political Science for writing the Foreword and discussing the idea of this book with me as well as for looking at several parts of the manuscript. He offered valuable suggestions. Krishna Kumar of Delhi University has assisted in drafting and finishing of the maps. My wife deserves sincere appreciation for the constant encouragement and assistance she gave in typing the initial drafts of the manuscript. My daughter Zulfia and son-in•law Asafuddowlah of the Bangladesh Civil Service gave me invaluable help in collecting up to date statistics and recent economic data. All boundaries on the maps are unofficial. NJ\FIS AHr.lAD

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Contents INTRODUCTION

1

1.

PIIYSIOAL SRTl'ING

6

2.

Ec0No1110 DaVBLOPMBNT IN THB

3.

MAIN FEATURES OF AGRJCULroRB

4.

FoRBST WEALTH IN THB EaoNoMY

106

s..

ENERGY RESOURCES

121

6.

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

129

7.

TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE

149

8.

POPULATION

171

9.

DEVELOPIIE.NT AND P.R.OSPBCTS

191

POSTSCRIPT

208

Appendices

215

Bibliography

231

Index

241

10.

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PAST

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Introduction Bangladesh, situated between latitude 20 degrees and 30 minutes and latitude 26 degrees and 45 minutes north and longitude 88 degrees and longitude 92 degrees and 56 minutes east, is a new nation but an ancient land with a vibrant language. It is a densely populated country and its 75 million people inhabit an area roughly 55,126 square miles. Bangladesh shares common borders with the Indian states of West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, the Union territory of Tripura on the west a~d Burma at the extreme southeast. The Bay of Bengal washes the sea face in the south for over 445 miles. Tibet (China), Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Nagaland and Manipur are close neighbours of Bangladesh. The country lies between the eastern margin of the Indian subcontinent and the western fringe of sprawling Southeast Asia (see Map I.I). _ Bangladesh is a land of numerous rivers meandering over a vast alluvial plain. Ample monsoon rains, heat and humidity lead to a luxuriant growth of vegetation and vast fields of paddy and other crops. The human pressure on land, floods and inundation, cyclones and tidal surges often create problems of great magnitude. . In medieval times Bangladesh was part of the large Bengal area which became an important though distant province of the Muslim Sultanate at Delhi. But no matter how restricted or expansive were the territories of Bangala"(Bengal), the present Bangladesh area remained the core of the region, with Sunargaon and later Dacca dominating as the centre of the territory. Upon the decline of Mughal power the British were firmly established over the area after the battle of Plassey in 1757. The Presidency of Fort William in Bengal was administered by the Governor General-in-Council, the Governor also being the Governor-General of India. In 1854, during the time of Lord Dalhousie as Viceroy, the newly constituted province of Bengal included Orissa and Bihar and the

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lntro,luctton 3 Surma Valley, with the districts of Cachar and Sylhet. Thts province being too large, a new provinoe, Assam, was carved out in 1874, and this separated the Surma Valley from its natural outlet through East Bengal. Till 1901, Bihar and Orissa remained with the large province of Bengal. On assumption of office as Viceroy in 1903 Lord Curzon decided to partition Bengal, and in 190S a new province of East Bengal and Assam, with a population of about 32 million and a Muslim majority, was created. Thus the Bangladesh area, with Dacca as the capital, became a dominant part of a new and vast province of roughly 106,540 square miles, which was formally announced on 19 July 190S. But there was intense opposition to the formation of the new province because of the so-called partition and eventually the partition was annulled on I April 1912. The new scheme of the British provinces in northeastern India survived till the coming of independence in August 1947 and the establishment of India and Pakistan as the two successor countries "see Map 1.2). The Bangladesh area became East Bengal, a province of Pakistan, and was later designated as East Pakistan. In 1971 the people of Bangladesh fought a war of secession against Pakistan and established a new sovereign state in the December of that year. Administratively, Bangladesh comprises four divisions-Dacca, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi. There are 21 districts grouped in different divisions. Each district has a number of subdivisions, 62 in all in the 21 districts. The-subdivisions consist of a number of tbanas which are police stations or revenue and administrative units. These number 416 (see Map 1.3). The number of unions at the level of local government is 4,.35S. Like many developing countries the economy of Bangladesh is predominantly agricultural. Over 90 per cent of the country's population is rural and about 75 per cent of these are engaged in agriculture and associated occupations. The output of agriculture makes up more than 56 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product. The industrial output is hardly ten per cent of the GDP. Over 60 per cent of all industrial production is constituted by agroindustries. Low per capita income and inadequate domestic investment have led to a poor rate of economic growth. In the pages that follow an assessment has been made of the economic resources of the country and an analysis has been at-

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Introduction S tempted of the interaction between the physical, economic, boman and technological factors in shaping the development of the area. The planning of progress and development will largely depend on a proper understanding of the total personality of Bangladesh.

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I. Physical Setting The international boundaries and administrative divisions of Bangladesh have already been described, but its economic geography demands also a consideration of its physical setting. which is an integral part of a country's personality and is exceptionally closely related to the economic life of Bangladesh.

RELIEF FEATURES

The country comprises· two sharply contrasting major physical divisions-the vast alluvial plain, and the marginal hills of the east and the southeast. The Plain

This has been· formed by the deep infilling of the eastern part of the I ndo-Gangetic trough; the two stages of the process are visible in the present landscape, represented by the new alluvium and the old alluvium. The new alluvium, by virtue of its vastly superior productivity and because it occupies about three times the area of the old alluvium, dominates the economy of Bangladesh. (a) The New Alluvium. Characteristically, the new alluvium of the plain gives an impression of absolute flatness over great distances (broken only where the old alluvium rises abruptly to not more than 100 feet above the general level). The seaward slope is so slight that a rise of sea level of 30 feet would put almost all of it under water. Immediately obvious too are the numerous rivers which are of fundamental importance to the life and work of Bangladesh. They have created the land and are still fashioning it; they serve as drainage channels, provide an abundant supply of fish, and, with the most their n-qm~r~~~ i!l~~f~J!DCC?!~9ns, they for~ perhap!i ,

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BANGLADESH

RIVERS AND RELIEF

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8 A New Economic Geography of Bangladesh complete and easy system of inland navigation in the world. Above all, they act as a gigantic and efficient fertilizing agency for a large part of the country (see Map i .1). It is essential, however, to distinguish between two very different categories of river, the dead (or decaying) rivers, and active rivers. South of the Padma, between the boundary with India in the west and the Meghna estuary in the east, are three major right bank Ganges distributaries, each in its turn once the main outlet channel of the Ganges, but, with its progressive eastward shift, successively reduced in stature. This area is the delta plain and the major rivers from west to east are the Mathabanga, forming the boundary with India, the Garai-Madhumati and the Arial Khan. The Arial Khan is still an active river, carrying a large volume of Ganges water to the sea. But rivers west of the Madhumati and all their branches, distributaries and interconnections, may be classed as decaying rivers. The Madhumati still has a fair volume and is navigable by large native boats throughout its length, and by seagoing vessels as far as the small port of Morrelganj on the Pangrechi, but the Mathabanga in the dry season is hardly more than a chain of pools. In general these rivers have well marked banks and usually do not flood. The numerous minor streams are choked with weeds. This area, north of the Sundarban (the delta face), comprising Kushtia, Jessore, northern Faridpur and northern Khulna, is the moribund delta. It lies slightly higher than the eastern (active) part of the delta and its surface is marked with numerous bils (depressions) here representing mainly scars and ''left-outs'' of former river beds now abandoned. Agriculturally, the moribund delta is a relatively poor area, and becoming poorer. It lacks the fertilizing silt deposited by regular river floods, which is not made good by the customary light manuring and frequent regular fallowing of the land, and the occasional flood brings damage, not benefit. It is significant that the area of cultivation of aman (winter) rice has been persistently contracting in the moribund delta. · East of the Madhumati, the delta plain, lying lower, is honeycombed with interconnecting active rivers which flood regularly and inundate the whole area. In physical and economic character, therefore, this area belongs to the category of river flood plains rather Jh~ wi!4 ih~ moribunJ part of t4~ · \ /{

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PHYSIOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS

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16 A New Economic Ceography of Bangladesh ches and distributaries and forming a close mesh of interconnected channels. A vast area of the low-lying plain 1s consequently covered by a continuous sheet of water in the annual inundation, which stops all agricultural operations and fertilizes the land with the silt it leaves behind. Since far into the past, shifting of rivers into new courses, sometimes accompanied by complete desertion of former courses, has been persistent. At times change has been sudden and catastrophic, but in more subdued form it is still going on, with constant local destruction of dry land and creation of new land. Finally, the rivers provide a continuous, close network of navigable waterways but at the same cime present innumerable and serious obstacles to road and rail communications, especially where banks are constantly shifting and where building of embankments can produce damaging changes in river behaviour (see Map 1.3). The plain and the rivers are two members of the triumvirate of the physical bases of the Bangladesh economy. The third is climate, more especially the monsoon rains.

CLIMATE AND SOILS

The climate of Bangladesh, generally described as tropical monsoon, is characterized by high temperatures for about eight months of the year; by high humidity and heavy summer rainfall; and by small ranges of temperature. The weather variations within the general uniformity, however, are of direct and great significance to crop production and crop production is the overwhelmingly dominant aspect of the agriculture, which is an equally dominant sector of the total economy. Among the weather elements it is rainfall particularly that conditions the performance of crops. In this section the relevant features are outlined. Temperature maxima in the summer months lie everywhere normally between 91°F and 96°F though 100°F is occasionally exceeded. Except for the Chittagong coast, April, not May, registers the highest mean monthly temperature, though the fall from April to May is very slight, as indeed it is through the succeeding three months. September and October commonly, though not universally, register a slight rise. Summer minima hardly ever go below 70°F anywhere on the plains and the summer daily range of temperature,

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J>hy61cal Setting 17 though reaching 24.3° F in a very limited area of· north Bengal, exceeds l 2°F almost nowhere else in the country. The short winter lasts from about the end of November to midFebruary. The lowest minima in January, the coldest month, barely dip below 50° F and then only in south Sylhet, north Bengal, the west of the country, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Jessore 49.2°; Dinajpur, 49.6°; Srimangal, 40.5°). The lowest January maxima are experienced in north Bengal, and north Mymensingh district, but even there exceed 75°F (Dinajpur, 75.4°; Bogra, 7S.4°; Mymensingb, 76.9°). The warmest areas in winter-are the Chittagong coast and the southwest (Jessore, Satkhira and ·Khulna). The daily range of January temperatures rarely exceeds JO"F. Temperature variations, then, are inconsiderable, and uniformly high temperatures introduce no differentiating factor into agriculture. It is otherwise with the rilinfall, whose general character conditions the nature of the agriculture and the timetable of the farming year and whose variations, both from region to region and from year to year, can spell success or failure for crops, prosperity or suffering for the cultivator. The rainfall essentially reflects wind conditions and winds are associated with pressure conditions. In winter the highest pressures extend in a southwest-northeast belt from Jessore through Dacca to Sylhet. The whole of north Bengal, however, across which the upper air cold front extends, registers relatively high pressures, though the cold weather disturbances sometimes penetrate into the area. From the high pressure belt pressures fall to the south, especially to the southeast on the Chittagong coast, but almost everywhere winter rainfall is negligible. Pressures are lower in the monsoon season, reaching their lowest over the whole country in June and July. From the end of February to May is the season of disturbances called locally kal baisakhi (calamities of the month of baisakh, April-May) but in English the nor'westers, since, though they may come from any point of the compass, they are most frequently from the northwest. These are thunderstorms, usually violent, occasionally devastating, rivalling tornadoes in wind speeds and destructive effects, though without any cyclonic component. (One such extreme storm struck parts of Faridpur and Jessore districts on 12 May 1951.) The mechanism of these storms is not fully understood but it is generally accepted that favouring conditions are a warm,

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18 A N$ Economic Geography of Bangladesh moist, southerly or southeasterly maritime air drift ovor a mite deep over which moves a cool, dry, continental air drift from the northwest or we•t, and that it is along the swface of contact between these air masses that the storms are generated and travel. The maritime air is mainly from the Bay of Bengal, though it may be from the western Pacific; the continental air from the Gangetic plain. The storms begin with a sudden shift of wind from its southerly, southeasterly or easterly direction to west or northwest, and temperature drops a few degrees. Deep cumulo-nimbus build up and precipitation takes place, usually only a few inches, though over 28 inches has been known to fall. Sometimes hail occurs, occasionally of destructive severity. Air humidity at the surface is less after the storm than before it. The most common time of incidence is the very late afternoon, but the storm may persist far into the night. The area where storms are most frequent is central Bangladesh, in Faridpur, Dacca and Pabna districts, though every part of the country experiences them to ·some degree. In any area the nor'westers contribute about 20 per cent of the mean annual rainfall of the area. The rest, apart from the slight winter rainfall of north Bengal, comes from the monsoon. In Bangladesh the monsoon means rains from June to September or October, not, as elsewhere, the southwest wind that crosses the Bay of Bengal and brings rain. On the Bangladesh coast, except the Chittagong coast in the southeast, it is essentially a south wind, but the further it penetrates into the country the more it swings northwest. Along its leading edge depressions with squalls are common, giving heavy downpours, but behind it, where the monsoon is fully established, weather conditions are less disturbed. though the rains remain heavy with periodic dry spells-the ''breaks in the monsoon.'' As Map 1.4b shows, the heaviest rainfall in these months is on and adjacent to the mountains in the northeast and the south and southeast coastlands, and only a relatively small area in the central west has under 30 inches. In general, July is the rainiest month, though June and August have similar figures and all monsoon months-June, July, August and September-have relative humidity averaging well over 80 per cent. The departing monsoon in October, like the incoming monsoonin June, is characterized by disturbances, which, unlike the nor•westers, are cyclonic in nature and are experienced mainly in the

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Physical Setting

19

south of the country. Over the last hundred years cyclones of extreme severity have been experienced at intervals of 20-22 years. Apart from the enormous material damage done, the Bakarganj cyclone of 1876, the Chittagong cyclone of 1897 and the KhulnaFaridpur cyclone of 1919 are estimated to have caused the loss of a total of 615,000 lives. Most recent examples are the two cyclones that hit the Chittagong-Noakhali-Barisal coast in rapid succession on IO and 31 October 1960, the first one followed by a huge tidal wave more damaging than the cyclone itself, and the second, on a somewhat more easterly track, suffered mainly by Chittagong and the Noakhali islands of the Meghna estuary. The material damage was enormous, the town and port of Chittagong, for instance, were virtually wrecked, and the estimate of 12,000 lives lost is probably an understatement. Again, on 11-12 May 196S, a cyclone with wind speeds registering up to 120 miles an hour, and lasting from midnight to early morning, hit parts of Barisal, Noakhali, Faridpur and Comilla districts. The storm was fiercest and the damage greatest in southwest Barisal, but Dacca city was badly mauled, and the total death roll was estimated at 15,000. Downpours reach high intensity during a cyclone and high rainfall figures are registered. In an extreme case 21.7 inches was registered at Patuakhali (Bakarganj) on S-6 October 1946, but other instances of double figure amounts are on record. Everywhere in Bangladesh, then, rainfall is seasonal, and the cultivator depends on the arrival of enough rain at the right time for his success The small winter rain of north Bengal supports the cultivation of rabi crops (wheat, barley and other cereals) and vegetables. The nor'westers are the bringers of the hot season rains, essential for the ploughing and sowing of aus paddy and jute, while a normal monsoon is essential for the growth and maturing of the aus paddy and jute, and the sowing of aman paddy. The variability of mean annual rainfall in Bangladesh in percentage terms is quite moderate, or, put another way, there is a high degree of reliability in mean annual amount. The chief factors in the variations that occur are the storms, both the nor'westers and the cyclones. From year to year the storms follow different tracks, and even within any one track, depending on the stage ef development of the storm, different areas may receive the heaviest rain. Even the steady monsoon, however, is not completely regular

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Physical Setting 21 either in the amount it brings or in its time of arrival and departure. Given that, overall temperatures are fully adeq11ate for the kinds of crops grown and mean annual rainfall tends to be more rather than less than is necessary for the crops; it is 11recisely the variations in rainfall that become the critical features for dis• tinguishing between good years and bad. Insufficient rain for the year is hardly a problem, providing that it is distributed so that it is received at the appropriate times for crop germination and growth. Timing, then, is critical. Late arrival of the nor'westers or the monsoon or their early cessation, even if the total amount of rain they bring is at or even above the normal amount, may prove fatal to the aus paddy and jute crops, by far the most important crops of the country. In variations of annual amount of rainfall, it is upward variations that are critical. Excessive rainfall normally brings unmanageable floods, which damage crops and may destroy them altogether. Excessive rainfall concentrated into a few days, even within a year of about the normal total, may also damage crops, especially young crops, and is a not uncommon experience in April and May, with aus paddy and jute hit by abnormally heavy rain from the nor'westers. Finally, the August break in the monsoon is necessary for the successful harvesting of aus paddy, and rain in that normally dry period, especially heavy rain, can cause serious losses to the cultivators (see Maps 1.4a and 1.4b). Soils

For centuries the soils of the country were regarded by adminis• trators purely from an agricultural point of view and quite system• atic surveys of relative productivity led to soil classifications on which taxation was based. The beginnings of a scientific pedologi• , cal examination are observable in 1928, when Russian pedologist M. Schokalsky included in his Knowledge of the Soils of Asia an assessment of material on India collected and mapped by Sen and Basu. Even after this, however, the generalized soil study of India produced in 1935 by the Geological Survey of India was based on the parent material from which the soils were derived-a strictly geological interpretation which underplayed other factors-climatic and organic-in soil formation. Not until 1955 did the East Pakislan gov'?~~~~nt, ~~~i~~d ,by . . th~ f AO~, estal;>lis~ th~ Soil ~urvey.

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Phy1ical Setting 23 Project to carry out a pedological survey and produce a soil map. This work, naturally, has not yet gone very far and detailed know• ledge of the pedology of Bangladesh is still virtually unavailable. For our particular purpose, however, this matters less than might be thought. In the first place most of the new alluvium, possibly indeed all of it, has no true mature soil in the strict pedological sense, but only parent material, which is consta ntlybeing renewed by fresh deposition. (The old alluvium, however, has been free from fresh deposition for long enough to allow mature soils to develop ) In the second place, since we are engaged in a study of the econo• mic geography of Bangladesh, we are, like the government agencies of old and the cultivators themselves, interested primarily in the agricultural characteristics of the soils. In that context we are justi• fied in treating as soil changes those areal changes in the character of the new alluvium that are accompanied by changes in the kind of crop or the productivity of agriculture. Before considering the soil characteristics of the new alluvium, by far the most extensive and productive agricultural area, we may briefly indicate the soil nature of the other major physiographic divisions. On the old alluvium of the Barind, Madhupur and Lalmai tracts the heavy $easonal rainfall and high temperatures have promoted hlterisation during their long period of immunity from inundation. The resulting red or yellowish soils (khiar or Jal mati) are rich in iron and aluminium, adequate in lime, but poor in silica and nitrogen. Their general level of fertility is low, and, when dry, though they are porous, they set very hard and are almost im• possible to plough. Only aman rice is possible, but poor crops of mustard, pulses and tobacco are also grown. The hill regions of the southeast and northeast are essentially areas of immature soils whose nature varies with that of the underlying parent rock material and the degree of slope; silts, loams, sands and gravels are all represented. The valley bottoms show a progression from gravels and sands in the upper reaches to silts lower down. Io none of these areas has a classification of soils been done. All soils of the new alluvium are pretty similar in their chemical composition and low humus content. Generally they show some deficiency in phosphoric acid and nitrogen, though not so notice· ,blr as ~he ~~'1r~ ~oils of t4~