Irrigation; The beginning

5,000 years ago irrigation was used throughout the ancient world from Asia to North America. It was very different from what we have today. Ancient Egyptians used the flooding of the Nile to inundate their fields using dykes, the sediment left by the flooding made the soil very fertile. 

Inspection chambers servicing the drainage pipe that brings water
 from the mountains to the oasis. You can see in the distance more
inspection chambers.

In the Sahara desert, I saw elaborate canals that took water from a reservoir that was filled by a network of "drainage" pipes that filtered water from mountains miles away. 






Each  family owned one small outlet from the reservoir to water their fields. 

You can see the main canal being divided into smaller outlets at the bottom of the photo on the left. 

In many parts of the world animal powered irrigation was used to lift water from a well or canal using a chain of pots or a large leather bucket. With the advent of diesel engines, these ancient methods were replaced with more efficient ways of lifting water from wells and canals.

Primitive drip irrigation was first used in china during the first century BC! They buried unglazed clay pots filled with water. Modern drip irrigation was first used in 1860 in Germany when technicians experimented with buried irrigation  clay pipes. In the 1920 perforated pipes were used, later in Australia plastic pipes were used and modern drip irrigation was born.