"Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years."
Techniques for conserving and efficiently using water resources in mixed farming.
Water conservation: Methods to minimize water usage in agriculture and the overall importance of water conservation.
Soil moisture management: Techniques for managing soil moisture to ensure optimal plant growth and water usage.
Irrigation systems: Different types of irrigation systems, including surface, sprinkler, and drip, and their respective advantages and disadvantages.
Sustainable agriculture: How to manage water and other resources in a way that is sustainable for both the environment and the farmer.
Water quality monitoring: The importance of water quality in agriculture, how to monitor it, and how to take appropriate action if it is compromised.
Agricultural water use efficiency: How to maximize the yield and water-use efficiency of crops, and the benefits of doing so.
Field drainage systems: Techniques for managing field drainage and minimizing waterlogging and soil erosion.
Water and nutrient management: How to use water and fertilizer in a way that maximizes crop growth while minimizing environmental impact.
Land leveling: The importance of level land for effective water use, and how to level land to meet this goal.
Climate change adaptation: How to adapt to changing weather patterns and water availability due to climate change and other factors.
Water rights and management: The legal and administrative frameworks used to manage water resources, and how they affect agricultural water use.
Water pricing and markets: How water is priced and traded in agriculture and how to participate in water markets.
Rainwater harvesting: Techniques for collecting and storing rainwater to use in agriculture.
Greenhouse gas emissions management: How to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with water use in agriculture.
Community engagement: How to engage with communities and stakeholders around water management issues, including the importance of land and water stewardship.
Irrigation management: The process of controlling water usage for crops through artificial means, including drip irrigation, flood irrigation, and sprinklers.
Drainage management: The system of managing water by removing excess or unwanted water from fields, meadows and marshes.
Soil conservation: Technique that manages water by using methods such as contouring, terracing, and constructing dams or ponds to conserve soil and water resources.
Crop selection: Management of water that involves selecting crops that grow best with the available rainfall and soil moisture.
Climate/weather monitoring: Monitoring and mapping weather patterns and changes to evaluate future rainfall and temperature using environmental technologies.
Sustainable water management: Proactive handling of water resources relying on the continuous utilization and maintenance of water supply and providing a path to a long-term improvement.
Water resource management: A process of gathering, evaluating and exploiting water resources for water supply, agriculture, economic growth and ecosystem.
Water harvesting: Process of collecting and storing rainwater through various methods such as roofs, terraces, wells and check dams for irrigation, agricultural and household purposes.
Aquifer management: Managing and controlling the amount of water that is pumped from underground reservoirs such as aquifers.
Water recycling: Treating and reusing wastewater for irrigation, livestock and agriculture purposes to decrease the demand on available fresh water resources.
"Irrigation helps to grow crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soils in dry areas and during times of below-average rainfall."
"Irrigation is also employed to protect crops from frost, suppress weed growth in grain fields, and prevent soil consolidation."
"It is also used to cool livestock, reduce dust, dispose of sewage, and support mining operations."
"Drainage, which involves the removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given location, is often studied in conjunction with irrigation."
"There are several methods of irrigation that differ in how water is supplied to plants."
"Surface irrigation, also known as gravity irrigation, is the oldest form of irrigation and has been in use for thousands of years."
"In sprinkler irrigation, water is piped to one or more central locations within the field and distributed by overhead high-pressure water devices."
"Micro-irrigation is a system that distributes water under low pressure through a piped network and applies it as a small discharge to each plant."
"Drip irrigation delivers water directly to the root zone of plants."
"Subirrigation has been used in field crops in areas with high water tables for many years. It involves artificially raising the water table to moisten the soil below the root zone of plants."
"Irrigation water can come from groundwater (extracted from springs or by using wells), from surface water (withdrawn from rivers, lakes or reservoirs) or from non-conventional sources like treated wastewater, desalinated water, drainage water, or fog collection."
"Rainfed agriculture is common in many parts of the world and refers to when irrigation is supplementary to rainfall."
"Full irrigation is less common and only occurs in arid landscapes with very low rainfall or when crops are grown in semi-arid areas outside of rainy seasons."
"The environmental effects of irrigation relate to the changes in quantity and quality of soil and water as a result of irrigation and the subsequent effects on natural and social conditions in river basins and downstream of an irrigation scheme."
"Depletion of underground aquifers through overdrafting."
"Soil can be over-irrigated due to poor distribution uniformity or management wastes water, chemicals, and may lead to water pollution."
"Over-irrigation can cause deep drainage from rising water tables that can lead to problems of irrigation salinity requiring watertable control by some form of subsurface land drainage."
"Irrigation has been developed by many cultures around the world."
"Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been developed by many cultures around the world."