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Irrigation project provides flood protection and higher yields in Bangladesh Water is both a boon and the bane of exis- double from the current level of $80 per an- The success of the Chandpur project n tence for the people of Bangladesh, partic- num. comes after what Bank officials call a poorj ularly for those 600,000 persons who live in The main feature of the Chandpur project start, due to war, natural disasters, and ; the Chandpur area about 90 miles south- is a 63-mile earthen embankment, that rings management problems. The project was east of the capital, Dacca. Without water the area round the South Dakatia river and redesigned in its early stages when it was : they would not be able to grow their paddy, provides flood protection for 130,000 acres discovered that the gravity scheme for irri->* and yet floods in the rainy season can wash of land. At least 60,000 acres are being irrigation involved the construction of canals on away their precious harvest. gated as part of this project, which includes the high ground, the best agricultural land in* An irrigation project assisted by the Inter- a pumping station for regulating the flow of the area. The design was changed to utilize national Development Association (IDA) in river water into the enclosed area and an and improve natural drainage channels and • Chandpur is designed not only to protect the outlet regulator that controls the flow of the to use low-lift pumps to run water into the area from the flood waters of the Meghna Dakatia river into the larger Meghna river to fields. and Dakatia rivers but also to provide irri- the west. In addition, 1,500 low-lift pumps The irrigation component of the project is | gation by maintaining the water level at all will supply water to land that was largely backed by agricultural extension work and*, times, and particularly, during the normally unirrigated before. Almost half of these the organization of the farmers into a coop- dry winter months. IDA has provided a $13 pumps have been installed. erative society under the aegis of the Inte- million credit for the $48 million project, which grated Rural Development Program. This is expected to be completed by the end of also includes the formation of groups to use 1979. particular pumps and the issuance of credit. Irrigation throughout the area has made it Bank experts also note the demonstration possible for farmers to intensify their pro- effect of the use of the high yield varieties of* duction of rice and increase their yield rice. Some farmers have been able to dou- through the use of better varieties. Now, too, Bank ble or triple their production. Project officials they can grow wheat in the dry season. Be- are attempting to encourage them to meet fore the project went into operation, rice pro- with other farmers of the area so that the : duction was approximately 68,000 tons a activity experience with better varieties and agricul- year. The 1978-79 harvest is an estimated tural techniques is passed on. Farmers al- - 160,000 tons. And, by the time the project is ways have more interest and confidence in fully developed in 1981-82 the area is ex- learning techniques from other farmers than •* pected to have an annual food surplus of they do from official extension workers. The , 64,000 tons. Concurrently, the average results of the Chandpur project should make farmer's income is expected to more than this process easier. ©International Monetary Fund. Not for Redistribution World Bank loans approved during third quarter of fiscal year 1979 Water supply and sewerage (Ended March 31, 1979) loan for Northeast Brazil Amount A World Bank loan of $100 million will help (In millions Country Purpose of U.S. dollars) finance a water supply and sewerage project in Northeast Brazil. The project will ex- Argentina Railway 96.0 tend water supply services to 2.3 million Brazil (3) Sites and services, water supply and sewerage, people and sewerage services to 1.2 million aluminum production 291.0 people in the states of Bahia, Ceara, and Cyprus Water development 11.0 Pernambuco. With an estimated total cost of Dominican Republic Irrigation 27.0 $303 million, the project will also improve Honduras (2) Industrial credit, tourism 34.5 India Thermal power* 50.0 water supply services for an additional 5.3 Indonesia Urban development 54.0 million people. Ivory Coast Small-scale and medium-scale enterprises 12.6 The loan will have the guarantee of the Kenya Telecommunications 20.0 Government of Brazil. It will have a term of Korea (2) Industrial sites and water resources development, 15 years, including 3 years of grace, at 7 per electronics technology 154.0 cent interest annually. Liberia Feeder roads 10.7 In the capital cities of Salvador (Bahia), Malaysia Education 38.0 Fortaleza (Ceara), and Recife (Pernam- Mexico Highway sector 120.0 buco), the project will provide water produc- Nigeria (3) Two agricultural development projects, forestry tion, treatment, storage and distribution fa- plantation 81.0 Panama Tropical tree crop development 19.0 cilities, and about 125,000 new house Paraguay Livestock and agricultural development 25.0 connections. Water supply systems in about Philippines Highway 100.0 35 medium-size cities and 285 villages will Portugal Fertilizer modernization 58.0 also be constructed or expanded. Romania (4) Seamless pipe, thermal power, livestock, irrigation The project includes the extension of and drainage 255.0 sewerage networks and disposal facilities in Senegal Aviation 7.0 the capital cities and in about 20 of the major 0 Tanzania Pulp and paper production 30.0 urban centers in the interior of the three Thailand Highway 16.7 states. Tunisia Urban sewerage 26.5 An estimated 61 per cent of the families Yugoslavia Highway 148.0 benefiting from the water supply invest- Total 1,685.0 ments in the capital cities have incomes be- 1 Figures in parentheses are the number of loans approved for the respective country low the relative poverty level—that is, less " Wrth a $200 mMion IDA credit. than one third of the national per capita in- < With a $30 million IDA credit. come, adjusted for differences in the cost of living between urban and rural areas. In ru- Update ral areas the proportion of poor beneficiaries will be higher. Remote sensing becomes a tool tion on the physiography and land use for for economic development the areas covered by the satellites can be In its June 1972 issue, Finance & Devel- a forum for discussion of the planned use of used to update resource maps. An example opment introduced the subject of remote the first earth resources satellite. Since then of such updating is the Bank's use of sat- sensing satellites ("Satellites and interna- the Bank has become a regular user of the ellite remote sensing imagery to show the tional resource development"). That arti- data from such satellites. changes that have taken place in the cle preceded the launching of the first earth A prime example of the Bank's involve- Ganges-Brahmaputra river system in Bang- resources satellite, ERTS-A (for Earth Re- ment in the remote sensing program is the ladesh and in the land use patterns and for- sources Technology Satellite). Since then publication of the Landsat Index Atlas of the ested areas. two additional satellites have been launched Developing Countries of the World (1976). Two Landsat satellites are at present op- and remote sensing has become an impor- Landsat is the current name for the series of erating in a near polar orbit, at an altitude of tant tool for planning and analysis by organ- satellites formerly known by the acronym 920 kilometers (570 statute miles). (Landsat izations like the World Bank. This article ERTS. To date, three satellites have been 1 is no longer in operation.) They circle the covers some major aspects of the Bank's placed in orbit around the earth. Landsat 1 earth every 103 minutes, or roughly 14 times use of this new technology. on July 23, 1972, Landsat 2 on January 22, a day, employing an array of sensing de- 1975, and Landsat 3 on March 5,1978. The vices, which include a multispectral scanner The World Bank and other international or- launching of a fourth, Landsat D, is planned (an electro-optical sensor) and a return beam ganizations that work with developing coun- for 1981. vidicon device (similar to television cam- tries in their effort to make more and better The images collected by successive eras) to send electromagnetic information use of their resources have been closely in- Landsat satellites are listed in index form in back to earth. The information gathered by volved with the growth and development of the Atlas produced by the Bank. This atlas the satellites is converted by computers into remote sensing technology and its use for provides information on the imagery availa- a variety of products, which can in turn be economic development. The Bank orga- ble up to May 1975, as well as the date of presented as photographic images. The nized a seminar in January 1972 to provide each image and the cloud cover. Informa- continued on next page Finance & Development I June 1979 5 ©International Monetary Fund. Not for Redistribution same area car) be covered at the same time IDA assists Sudan's second highway project of the day every 18 days by the two satellites which are phased nine days apart. This continuity of coverage assures the possibil- ity of a repetition of images that allows inter- preters to follow changes in cropping patterns or flood levels of a river or the filling of a reservoir.

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