Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation
of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate
rainfall. Additionally, irrigation also has a few other uses in crop
production, which include protecting plants against frost,[1] suppressing weed growing in grain fields[2] and helping in preventing soil consolidation.[3] In contrast, agriculture that relies only on direct rainfall is referred to as rain-fed or dryland farming. Irrigation systems are also used for dust suppression, disposal of sewage, and in mining. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area
Irrigation in a field in New Jersey, United States
- See also History of water supply and sanitation.
Animal-powered irrigation, Upper Egypt, ca. 1840
Inside a
karez tunnel at Turpan, Uyghurstan.
Archaeological investigation has identified evidence of irrigation where the natural rainfall was insufficient to support crops.
Perennial irrigation was practised in the Mesopotamian plain whereby crops were regularly watered throughout the growing season by coaxing water through a matrix of small channels formed in the field.[4]
Ancient Egyptians practiced Basin irrigation using the flooding of the Nile
to inundate land plots which had been surrounded by dykes. The flood
water was held until the fertile sediment had settled before the
surplus was returned to the watercourse.[5] There is evidence of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhet III in the twelfth dynasty (about 1800 BCE) using the natural lake of the Faiyum Oasis as a reservoir to store surpluses of water for use during the dry seasons, the lake swelled annually from flooding of the Nile.[6]
The Ancient Nubians developed a form of irrigation by using a waterwheel-like device called a sakia. Irrigation began in Nubia some time between the third and second millennium BCE.[7] It largegly depended upon the flood waters that would flow through the Nile River and other rivers in what is now the Sudan.[8]
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.[9][10]
Terrace irrigation is evidenced in pre-Columbian America, early Syria India and China.[5] In the Zana Valley of the Andes Mountains in Peru, archaeologists found remains of three irrigation canals radiocarbon dated from the 4th millennium BCE, the 3rd millennium BCE and the 9th century CE. These canals are the earliest record of irrigation in the New World. Traces of a canal possibly dating from the 5th millennium BCE were found under the 4th millennium canal.[11] Sophisticated irrigation and storage systems were developed by the Indus Valley Civilization in present-day Pakistan and North India, including the reservoirs at Girnar in 3000 BCE and an early canal irrigation system from circa 2600 BCE.[12][13] Large scale agriculture was practiced and an extensive network of canals was used for the purpose of irrigation.
Ancient Persia (modern day Iran) as far back as the 6th millennium BCE, where barley was grown in areas where the natural rainfall was insufficient to support such a crop.[14] The Qanats, developed in ancient Persia
in about 800 BCE, are among the oldest known irrigation methods still
in use today. They are now found in Asia, the Middle East and North
Africa. The system comprises a network of vertical wells and gently
sloping tunnels driven into the sides of cliffs and steep hills to tap
groundwater.[15] The noria,
a water wheel with clay pots around the rim powered by the flow of the
stream (or by animals where the water source was still), was first
brought into use at about this time, by Roman
settlers in North Africa. By 150 BCE the pots were fitted with valves
to allow smoother filling as they were forced into the water.[16]
The irrigation works of ancient Sri Lanka, the earliest dating from about 300 BCE, in the reign of King Pandukabhaya
and under continuous development for the next thousand years, were one
of the most complex irrigation systems of the ancient world. In
addition to underground canals, the Sinhalese
were the first to build completely artificial reservoirs to store
water. Due to their engineering superiority in this sector, they were
often called 'masters of irrigation'. Most of these irrigation systems
still exist undamaged up to now, in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa,
because of the advanced and precise engineering. The system was
extensively restored and further extended during the reign of King Parakrama Bahu (1153–1186 CE).[17]
The oldest known hydraulic engineers of China were Sunshu Ao (6th century BCE) of the Spring and Autumn Period and Ximen Bao (5th century BCE) of the Warring States period, both of whom worked on large irrigation projects. In the Szechwan region belonging to the State of Qin of ancient China, the Dujiangyan Irrigation System was built in 256 BCE to irrigate an enormous area of farmland that today still supplies water.[18] By the 2nd century AD, during the Han Dynasty, the Chinese also used chain pumps that lifted water from lower elevation to higher elevation.[19] These were powered by manual foot pedal, hydraulic waterwheels, or rotating mechanical wheels pulled by oxen.[20] The water was used for public works of providing water for urban residential quarters and palace gardens, but mostly for irrigation of farmland canals and channels in the fields.[21]
In 15th century Korea, the world's first water gauge, uryanggye (Korean:우량계), was invented in 1441. The inventor was Jang Yeong-sil, a Korean engineer of the Joseon Dynasty, under the active direction of the king, Sejong the Great.
It was installed in irrigation tanks as part of a nationwide system to
measure and collect rainfall for agricultural applications. With this
instrument, planners and farmers could make better use of the
information gathered in the survey.[22]
In the Americas, extensive irrigation systems were created by
numerous groups in prehistoric times. One example is seen in the recent
archaeological excavations near the Santa Cruz River in Tucson, Arizona.
They have located a village site dating from 4,000 years ago. The
floodplain of the Santa Cruz River was extensively farmed during the
Early Agricultural period, circa 1200 BC to AD 150. These people
constructed irrigation canals and grew corn, beans, and other crops
while gathering wild plants and hunting animals.
[edit] Present extent
In the middle of the 20th century, the advent of diesel and electric motors led for the first time to systems that could pump groundwater out of major aquifers
faster than it was recharged. This can lead to permanent loss of
aquifer capacity, decreased water quality, ground subsidence, and other
problems. The future of food production in such areas as the North China Plain, the Punjab, and the Great Plains of the US is threatened.
At the global scale, 2,788,000 km² (689 million acres) of
agricultural land was equipped with irrigation infrastructure around
the year 2000. About 68% of the area equipped for irrigation is located
in Asia, 17% in America, 9% in Europe, 5% in Africa and 1% in Oceania.
The largest contiguous areas of high irrigation density are found in
North India and Pakistan along the rivers Ganges and Indus, in the Hai
He, Huang He and Yangtze basins in China, along the Nile river in Egypt
and Sudan, in the Mississippi-Missouri river basin and in parts of
California. Smaller irrigation areas are spread across almost all
populated parts of the world.
[23]
Only 8 years later in 2008, the scale of irrigated land increased to an
estimated total of 3,245,566 km², what is nearly the size of India.
[2
کشاورزی ارگانیک
