Irrigation

Irrigation is the application of controlled amounts of water to plants at needed intervals.

Irrigation helps to grow agricultural crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soils in
dry areas and during periods of less than average rainfall. Irrigation also has other uses in crop
production, including frost protection,[1] suppressing weed growth in grain fields[2] and
preventing soil consolidation.[3] In contrast, agriculture that relies only on direct rainfall is
referred to as rain-fed or dry land farming.
Irrigation systems are also used for cooling livestock, dust suppression, disposal of sewage, and
in mining. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the removal of surface and
sub-surface water from a given area.

Irrigation canal in Osmaniye, Turkey

Sprinkler irrigation of blueberries in Plainville, New York, United States

Irrigation has been a central feature of agriculture for over 5,000 years and is the product of
many cultures. Historically, it was the basis for economies and societies across the globe, from
Asia to the Southwestern United States.

Importance of Irrigation

Main importances of irrigation supplies are discussed below.

 Agriculture is often greatly hampered due to irregular, insufficient or uncertain rain.

Proper irrigation systems can secure uninterrupted agriculture.
  The productivity of irrigated land is more than the un-irrigated land. Crop yields
everywhere in the developing world are consistently higher in irrigated areas than in
rainfed areas1.
 Seeds cannot grow in dry soil as moisture is necessary for the germination of seeds. With
the help of irrigation supply, the required moisture content of soil for the growth of seed
can be ensured.
 Multiple cropping in a year is possible through irrigation. This will enhance production &
productivity. In many areas of India, two or three crops in a year are cultivated with
irrigation facilities.
 Through the irrigation, it is possible to supply the required amount of hydrogen & oxygen,
which is important for the proper development of plant root.
 A plant can absorb mineral nutrients from the irrigated soil. Thus irrigation is essential
for the general growth of the plant.
 Bringing more land under cultivation is possible through irrigation.
 Insufficient rain may also cause drought & famines. Irrigation can play a protective role
during the period of drought & famines.
 Irrigation contributes to the economic growth and poverty reduction2. As income and
employment are closely related to output and irrigation increases production, substantial
increase in income is achieved in the countryside.

Purposes of Irrigation

 Providing insurance against short duration droughts

 Reducing the hazard of frost (increase the temperature of the plant)
 Reducing the temperature during hot spells
 Washing or diluting salts in the soil Softening tillage pans and clods
 Delaying bud formation by evaporative cooling
 Promoting the function of some micro organisms

History of Irrigation

Water is the most important input required for plant growth for agriculture production. Irrigation
can be defined as replenishment of soil water storage in plant root zone through methods other than
natural precipitation. Irrigation is seen to have found its roots in the history of mankind since
earliest beginning. It helps reduce the uncertainties, particularly the climatic uncertainties in
agriculture practices.
 Archaeological investigation has identified evidence of irrigation where the natural rainfall was
insufficient to support crops.
 Perennial irrigation was practised in the Mesopotamian plain by coaxing water through a matrix of
small channels formed in the field. ( From Tigris and Euphrates River)

 Ancient Egyptians practiced Basin irrigation using the flooding of the Nile River to inundate land
plots which had been surrounded by dykes.
 Shaduf - hand operated device for
lifting water
 The Ancient Nubians developed a form of irrigation by using a waterwheel-like device called a sakia
or Persian Wheel.

 In sub-Saharan Africa irrigation reached the Niger River region cultures and civilizations by the first
or second millennium BCE and was based on wet season flooding and water harvesting.
 The Qanats, developed in ancient Persiain about 800 BCE, are among the oldest known irrigation
methods still in use today. Qanat is a gently sloping underground channel or tunnel constructed to lead
water from the interior of a hill to a village below.
 The irrigation works of ancient Sri Lanka, the earliest dating from about 300 BCE, in the reign of
King Pandukabhaya (the first person who made a tank) and under continuous development for the
next thousand years, were one of the most complex irrigation systems of the ancient world. Sinhalese
were the first people who made reservoir and fully developed and extended by King Padukabhaya.

 In the Szechwan region belonging to the State of Qin of ancient China, the Dujiangyan Irrigation (an
irrigation and flood control project). System was built in 256 BCE to irrigate an enormous area of
farmland that today still supplies water. They harnessed the river (Min River) using a new method of
channeling and dividing the water rather than simply damming it.
 The floodplain of the Santa Cruz River was extensively farmed during the Early Agricultural period,
circa 1200 BC to AD 150.
 Terrace irrigation is evidenced in pre-Columbian America, early Syria, India and China. This is the
ancient technique that was used all over the world, including in China and India, but it was used
especially in the Americas.

History, it is said is the greatest teacher of the mankind. Study of the history of irrigation,
development of irrigation technology, sustainability of the old irrigation systems provides an
insight into the factors that have sustained the outcomes over the generations.

Source - ICID
Irrigation in Ancient Mesopotamia

IRRIGATION TIMELINE

6000 BC

Irrigation began at about the same time in Egypt and Mesopotamia (present day Iraq and Iran)
using the water of the flooding Nile or Tigris/Euphrates rivers. The flood waters, which occurred
July through December, were diverted to fields for 40 to 60 days. The water was then drained back
into the river at the right moment in the growing cycle.

3500 BC

Nilometer Water Level Measurement

The annual flood season along the Nile was unpredictable without records, so the Egyptians
created a flood gauge called the Nilometer. The simplest design was a vertical column submerged
in the river with marked intervals indicating the depth of the river. A second design was a flight of
stairs leading into the river. The nilometer data was then used by the ancient Egyptian priesthood
who mystically predicted when the flood would occur.
3100 BC

The first major irrigation project was created under King Menes during Egypt’s First Dynasty. He
and his successors used dams and canals (one measuring 20 km) to use the diverted flood waters of
the Nile into a new lake called lake "Moeris."

1792-1750 BC

Water Regulations

Babylonian King Hammurabi; was the first to institute water regulations within his kingdom. This
early code covered:

 The distribution of water proportionally based on the acres farmed.

 A farmer’s responsibilities in maintaining canals on his property.
 The collective administration of the canal by all users

1700 BC Irrigation Shaduf (Shaduf / Shadouf / Shadoof)

(Shadoof) A large pole balanced on a crossbeam, a rope and bucket on one end and a heavy
counter weight at the other. By pulling the rope it lowered the bucket into a canal or river. The
operator would then raise the full bucket of water by pushing down on the counter weight. The
pole could be swung around and the bucket emptied in a field or different canal. This development
enabled irrigation when a river wasn’t in flood which meant higher ground could be used for
farming.
700 BC

Noria

700-600 BC

(Egyptian Water Wheel) A wheel with buckets or clay pots along its circumference, the wheel was
turned by the current of the river. The flow filled buckets by immersion and as it rotated the upper
buckets are emptied by gravity into a trough or aqueduct. The empty buckets then returned to be
refilled. The Noria provided the ancient world with its first non-human operated lifting device.

550 BC

Qanat

550-331 BC (Kareze in Mesopotamia) The development of this technique allowed the use of
ground water to become the primary source for crop irrigation. A Qanat was built by first digging a
vertical well into sloping ground. Once the well was completed a tunnel was dug nearly horizontal
to the lower end of the well. The natural slope would allow well water to travel by gravity down
the tunnel and emerge some distance down slope from the well. Construction of Qanats was labor
intensive and vertical openings were placed every 20-30 meters to allow the tunnel diggers to
breathe and to remove the debris from the tunnel. Once the tunnel was completed, the area had a
constant source of water. Qanats are still in use today and at least 20,000 still operate from China
to Morocco.

500 BC

Sakia

Persian Water Wheel

The first use of what is now called a pump. This device was an endless series of pots on a rope
which ran over two pulleys. The oxen-powered device powered a cogged wheel allowing the pots
to enter the water supply, fill and then be raised and emptied. The Sakia was similar to the Noria
except that it was powered by an external force rather than the flow of the river’s current.

250 BC

Tambour

Archimedes Screw

While visiting Egypt the Greek scholar Archimedes created this device which consisted of a screw
inside a hollow tube. The screw was turned and as the bottom end of the screw rotated, it scooped
up water. The water traveled up the length of the screw until it poured out the top of the tube.
Today the principal is used in transporting granular materials such as plastic granules used in
injection moulding and in moving cereal grains.

500 AD

Windmills
When the first use of a windmill occurred is unknown, although drawings of a water pumping
windmill from Persia (current day Iran) exist. This design had vertical sails made of bundles of
reeds or wood which attached to a central vertical shaft.

1800 AD

Irrigated Acreage Worldwide

Irrigated acreage worldwide reaches 19,760,000 acres. This compares with an estimated
600,000,000 acres today.

1870

Irrigation Furrow / Canal

Nebraska, USA

Hand digging an irrigation canal in Nebraska during the late 1800s.

1872

Residential Sprinkler

This patent was issued to John Gibson, of San Francisco, California, USA on July 16, 1872. It is
unknown if this sprinkler went into production.

1877
 Residential Hose Nozzle

Solid Brass Nozzle

This garden hose nozzle was first patented on Oct. 16, 1877, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. The
later patent date was on June 2, 1885.