Thousands of acres of paddy fields in the disaster area of East Pakistan will lie useless during the main rice season this year. It will be a second heavy blow to the devastated area which is still struggling to recover from the cyclone and floods last November in which nearly 250,000 people are feared to have died.

The Pakistan Government has estimated that up to 350,000 acres will not be planted out because of the heavy losses of ploughing cattle and equipment. One estimate is that more than 200,000 cattle were lost.

Tractors and hand-operated ploughs have been sent to the area as well as replacement cattle, but there will still be a serious shortage of equipment for this season's monsoon crop. In some areas, farmers are trying to prepare fields by dragging the ploughs themselves.

Relief workers accept the fact that in some of the remoter areas of the delta region, primary aid will have to be continued for at least two years. This is causing concern because of the possible damaging effects on the local population of being totally dependent over such a long period.

Three British charities—Oxfam, War on Want and Christian Aid—have combined on one relief project to provide tractors, storage silos and houses. The leader of the operation is Mr. Iain 0. Macdonald, aged 33 who expects to fly out to the area in about two weeks' time.

Inflatable grain silos which have already been sent out are being used as food stores in the forward areas of the disaster zone. Such stores are essential because during the monsoon season transport becomes extremely difficult.

The housebuilding project is being organized by an American charity—CA.R.E.—which has carried out experiments in East Pakistan in building brick houses.

Forty tractors have been bought and are expected to leave Britain within the next few days. A support team of five field workers, responsible for training the local people in the use and maintenance of the vehicles, will also be flown out together with two or three workshop staff.

Mr. Macdonald said last night: "We will stay until the end of the year. We should achieve a lot in that time."

The three charities are providing £450,000 for the project. This money comes out of their share of the national appeal fund- split between themselves, the British Red Crass and Save the Children Fund, which had brought in £1,480,000 before the postal strike began.

About £300,000 was committed immediately by the charities to the purchase of clothing, food and medicines. The charities are also involved in other projects in the disaster area.

Mr. Macdonald said "Our Project will operate within that being, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization but will be totally self-sufficient. We will also be looking at the possibility of establishing a credit scheme for the local farmers and ways of helping the fishing industry as well as examining the possibility of building houses with CA.R.E. for those villages which have begun to organize land ownership so that they can be concentrated and located in a sheltered position".

The project was agreed upon by the three charities. who will work together on a major scheme for the first time after two fact-finding missions to Pakistan by Mr. Macdonald. The tractors and the workshop will work in an area of about 20,000 arable acres, but will probably be able to cultivate only about one-quarter of it.

Mr. Macdonald said: "We won't get into full swing because the tractors won't arrive until the end of May and I expect we will have to stop by August. That is the monsoon season when up to 30in. of rain can fall each day." He added: "I returned from East Pakistan at the end of January. There am huge gaps in the distribution of relief but the Government is willing to admit them and is trying to plug them. A tremendous amount of work has been done by the Government.

"There is cause for concern once the monsoon starts when transport problems increase. Then it will be difficult to continue supporting the more isolated regions", he said.

The monsoon crop, which will be harvested in November and December will be the first major indication of the rate of recovery in the disaster area. It could also provide the first meagre revenue that is essential to reestablish an independent economy in the region.