214 THE FUTURE OF ARID LANDS 
Figure 10. Corn planted on steeply sloping hillsides in the Serra de 
Sao Pedro, southern Ceara. - 
also increased surface runoff results in drought conditions, even 
with high annual precipitation. A great number of springs, which 
in the beginning of the last century watered the slopes of moun- 
tains such as the Uruburetama and other elevations in the vicinity 
of Fortaleza, Ceara, are said to have disappeared when the 
hillsides were cleared and planted to cotton and coffee. Although 
the area of each of these humid ‘“‘islands,” with deeper, more 
fertile soil, is small in comparison with the sertdo, their total area 
is considerable, particularly in Ceara. 
When the 1950 Census was taken, the numerous serras, in the 
state of Ceara alone, supported a population of about 500,000. It 
is Interesting to compare this number of people, already estab- 
lished on the land, with the total of 400,000, which are to be 
settled, in a remote future, according to plans based on the com- 
pletion of four major systems of storage and irrigation in various 
sections of the Nordeste (4). It appears to me that the compara- 
tively small areas of relatively good soil, such as that of the 
serras, must be regarded as very precious indeed and that develop- 
ment schemes should not merely contemplate the establishment 
of artificial nuclei of settlement, with the construction of large 
reservoirs, but should make every effort to promote full and 
