III.

Economic Importance

The Ganges basin is India’s most extensive, most agriculturally productive, and most densely populated region. In Asia, only the Huabei Pingyuan (North China Plain) is as densely settled. In the western part of the Gangetic Plain, the river provides irrigation water for an extensive canal system whose main arteries are the Upper Ganges Canal and the Lower Ganges Canal. Chief crops of the plain include rice, sugarcane, lentils, oil seeds, potatoes, and wheat. Almost all of the plain has been cleared of its former grasslands and forests to make way for crops.

Typically, the banks of the Ganges are lined with swamps and lakes. In these areas as well as in the fertile delta, crops such as rice, legumes, chilies, mustard, sesame, sugarcane, and jute are cultivated. Only a stretch of the southwestern delta, covered with mangrove trees, is left uncultivated. The mangroves are ideal habitat for several species of crocodile.

Because the Ganges is fed by snow-capped peaks, it remains a sizable body of water throughout the year and can be used for extensive irrigation even during the hot, dry season of April through June. During the summer monsoon season, heavy rains can cause destructive floods, especially in the delta area.