Irrigation

The first people to grow plants had to learn three main tasks: how to concentrate
desirable plants into a manageable area; how to prevent weeds from growing there; and how
best to encourage the plants to flourish. In short, people learned to plant, weed, and water or
drain crops. In the English climate, there is enough natural rainfall to grow staple crops. But in a
dry climate, most crop plants need water, and it must be provided by the farmer. Irrigation has
been the technology underlying many of the world's greatest civilizations.

But irrigation is not easy. Usually, irrigation schemes require a large investment of money
or labor or both. Water supplies must be safe and reliable. In each growing season, water of the
right quality must be delivered at the right time and place in the right quantity at the right price,
and irrigation water must later be drained off the crops. Even within one growing season,
irrigation systems need continual maintenance.

What is irrigation?

Irrigation is the process where water is moved from one area (where there is a lot of
water supply, such as rivers or reservoirs) to another area which does not have much water.

A region that can be irrigated on a long-term basis thus has:

An abundant supply of good water.

Well-drained soil.

Good regional drainage.

A supply of fertilizer for the soil.

If any of these conditions fails, the system will eventually fail. Such failures have brought
down civilizations that solved the engineering and logistic problems of designing, building, and
maintaining irrigation systems, but neglected the long-term effects of salinization or nutrient
depletion. Long-term problems of irrigation may not appear for a long time: today, for example,
the valleys and basins of the San Joaquin, Rio Grande, Indus, Nile, Murray-Darling, Jordan, and
Tigris-Euphrates are being irrigated, with progressive and visible increases in salinization and
water-logging, and no remedy in sight. Only a few civilizations based on irrigating dry country
have lasted for any length of time: sensible civilizations should not try to grow wetland crops in
arid climates.
The Role of Irrigation Water in Agricultural Systems
1. Sustains soil biological and chemical activity, extending mineralization during dry
Periods.
2. Creates soil solution for nutrient uptake and transfer
3. Provides necessary building blocks for the formation of carbohydrates
4. Provides physical support/structure for plant
5. Maintains optimal temperatures within the plant
6. Protects crops, e.g., during threats of freezing temperatures