What is the history of irrigation?
The earliest archeological evidence of irrigation in farming dates to about 6000 B.C. in the Middle East’s Jordan Valley (1). It is widely believed that irrigation was being practiced in Egypt at about the same time (6), and the earliest pictorial representation of irrigation is from Egypt around 3100 B.C. (1).
What are the importance of irrigation in Nigeria?
Agriculture system in Nigeria is predominately rain-fed. Climate change and variability impact may result in increase or decrease in rainfall. Irrigation serves as buffer or insurance for climate change and variability. Irrigation reduces agricultural production risks and reliance on rainfall.
Who is the founder of irrigation?
Ancient Persia (modern day Iran) used irrigation as far back as the 6th millennium BCE to grow barley in areas with insufficient natural rainfall. The Qanats, developed in ancient Persia about 800 BCE, are among the oldest known irrigation methods still in use today.
Why many irrigation schemes managed by smallholder farmers are not performing optimally?
Because many smallholder irrigators are growing low-value staple crops with poor support, and have inadequate or expensive access to farm inputs and to markets, their returns are insufficient to maintain and revitalize irrigation schemes (Shah et al., 2002.
When was irrigation system developed?
Menes, the first king of a unified Egypt (circa 3,000 B.C.), is believed to have built banks along the Nile to control flooding, originating the basin system ofirrigation.
Why is irrigation very important in agriculture?
Irrigation is bound to part of the solution to feeding the growing world population. Irrigation is used to supply a plant with water so that the plant may flourish and that means both in amount and quality.
What is irrigation name two methods of irrigation?
Nutrients dissolved in water are carried to every part of the plant. Two means of irrigation systems which conserve water are the Drip system and sprinkler system.
What are reasons for agricultural poor performance?
The poor performance of agriculture was related to several factors, including drought; a government policy of controlling prices and the free movement of agricultural products from surplus to deficit areas; the unstable political climate; the dislocation of the rural community caused by resettlement, villagization, and …
What are farmers organizations?
Farmer organizations are a formal or informal (registered or unregistered) membership-based collective action groups serving its members, who receive part or all of their livelihood from agriculture (crops, livestock, fisheries and/or other rural activities).
What are the two main types of irrigation?
Two different methods of irrigation are- modern methods that include sprinkler irrigation and drip irrigation; traditional irrigation that includes manual irrigation where water is pulled out by the farmers themselves from the wells and canals to irrigate the land.
What is irrigation farming in Nigeria?
Irrigation farming in Nigeria Irrigation, as well as drainage, is the main form of land melioration. Irrigation improves the supply of plant roots with moisture and nutrients, reduces the temperature of the surface and increases its humidity. Water in the fields can be distributed in different ways.
What is the extent of irrigated area in Africa?
The extent of irrigated area, as may be expected, varies significantly from one country to another. If the country with the maximum irrigation in Africa, Egypt, is considered, currently 2.47 million ha of land is under irrigation, and this constitutes nearly 28% of the total land under irrigation in Africa.
What is irrigation and how does it work?
Irrigation is a process of water supply to fields lacking moisture. It increases water content in the root layer of soil in order to increase soil fertility. Though it is necessary to bear in mind the fact that some plants prefer dry soil and some need moisture.
What are the disadvantages of irrigation?
This method of irrigation is usually used in combination with other irrigation methods. The most common and unpleasant phenomenon caused by irrigation is soil salinity. Soil and underlying soil contain many readily soluble salts. In a case of water excess on the fields, groundwater level begins to rise.