AGST 1000 Lecture : History of Irrigation- Part 1.docx

• School: UofL
• Department: Agricultural Studies
• Course: AGST 1000
• Professor: Henning Bjourlund

Document Summary

Major irrigation societies: agriculture the basic of cultivation irrigation. Irrigation systems: surface water diversions, groundwater mobilization systems. Population pressure forces cereal production into the dry plains. Settled agriculture started around 10,000 years ago in areas with sufficient rainfall. Increasing population forces cereal production into the plains" around. Mediterranean climate regime of wet winters and dry summers. The seasonal contrast is especially marked in the lowlands. Remedy simple-dig ditches to divert water from the river during dry periods and prevent flooding during harvest. This profoundly changed the sue of land. They could grow two crops a year but it required both drainage and irrigation. Land not subject opt spring flooding could now also be turned into productive fields. Early watercourses and settlements in the diyaya region. The system shown in grey was in use during the early dynastic period about 3,000-2,400 bc.