What Exactly Is The Role Of Irrigation In Agriculture?
Irrigation is of value especially for communities that could be facing the effects of drought. It is defined as the artificial application of water to soil, in the appropriate amounts and frequency, to cause optimal soil infiltration and plant growth. The conditions to take into consideration are soil type, vegetation, size of the area to be irrigated, water pressure, and local circumstances. Image source: clwa.org The increase in agricultural production and productivity is highly dependent on the availability of water. Insufficient, inconsistent, and uncertain rain is causing unpredictability in agriculture. In some parts of the world, rain is restricted to only a few months in a year, and there are times when these rains don’t come as expected, causing areas of the country to experience drought. Irrigation assists in effectively controlling drought and famine. In irrigated lands, a higher rate of productivity is experienced as c...