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41 Agricultural Development in Afghanistan. At present there are vast plans for the agricultural develop- ment of the country, the most important of these being the Hel- mand Valley Project. The valleys of the north-east are fertile and capable of high productivity, but the south-west, with its great areas of uncultivated or occasionally cultivated land, offers the greatest possibilities for future development. This region is primarily drained by the Helmand River and its system of tribut- aries. The Helmand Valley is an inland basin, cut off from the sea on all sides by a ring of mountains. The watershed covers a large area, draining the southern slopes of the high Hindukush mountains. The Helmand is the perennial source of considerable size; the low flow during the summer months rarely goes below 1,500 to 2,000 cfs. (42 to 56 cubic meters per sec.). The Helmand empties into the Hamun-i-Helmand, a series of shallow lakes in the south-western corner of the country, along the Iranian border. Also discharging into the lakes are several other smaller streams which drain the southwestern part of the country, viz., the Adraskand, Farah, Khuspas, Khash Rud and Dor Rud. These streams may have flood discharges of considerable magnitude, but the annual flow is largely taken for upstream irrigation, and in general they are intermittent streams; the lower reaches are usually dry during a large part of the year. There is evidence that Hamun-i-Helmand was once of very much greater extent. In the past ages, the rivers discharging into this great inland sea carried large quantites of sediments which were deposited on the lake floor during a long period of time. With change of climate the sea receded, exposing a broad flat terrain of deep silt. That portion of this region which lies in Afghanistan is known as Chakhansur. This area has probably been cultivated to a greater or lesser extent since the dawn of