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Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall. Additionally, irrigation also has a few other uses in crop production, which include protecting plants against frost, suppressing weed growth in grain fields and preventing soil consolidation.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Aridpoop -05-15 )〕 In contrast, agriculture that relies only on direct rainfall is referred to as rain-fed or dryland farming. Irrigation systems are also used for dust suppression, disposal of sewage, and in mining. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, which is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area. Irrigation has been a central feature of agriculture for over 5000 years and the result of work of many cultures, and was the basis of the economy and society of numerous societies, ranging from Asia to the American Southwest. == History == Archaeological investigation has identified as evidence of irrigation where the natural rainfall was insufficient to support crops. ''Perennial irrigation'' was practiced in the Mesopotamian plain whereby crops were regularly watered throughout the growing season by coaxing water through a matrix of small channels formed in the field.〔Hill, Donald: ''A History of Engineering''〕 Ancient Egyptians practiced ''Basin irrigation'' using the flooding of the Nile to inundate land plots which had been surrounded by dykes. The flood water was held until the fertile sediment had settled before the surplus was returned to the watercourse.〔''p19'' Hill〕 There is evidence of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhet III in the twelfth dynasty (about 1800 BCE) using the natural lake of the Faiyum Oasis as a reservoir to store surpluses of water for use during the dry seasons, the lake swelled annually from flooding of the Nile. The Ancient Nubians developed a form of irrigation by using a waterwheel-like device called a ''sakia''. Irrigation began in Nubia some time between the third and second millennium BCE. It largely depended upon the flood waters that would flow through the Nile River and other rivers in what is now the Sudan. In sub-Saharan Africa irrigation reached the Niger River region cultures and civilizations by the first or second millennium BCE and was based on wet season flooding and water harvesting.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Traditional technologies )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Africa, Emerging Civilizations In Sub-Sahara Africa. Various Authors; Edited By: R. A. Guisepi )〕 ''Terrace irrigation'' is evidenced in pre-Columbian America, early Syria, India, and China.〔 In the Zana Valley of the Andes Mountains in Peru, archaeologists found remains of three irrigation canals radiocarbon dated from the 4th millennium BCE, the 3rd millennium BCE and the 9th century CE. These canals are the earliest record of irrigation in the New World. Traces of a canal possibly dating from the 5th millennium BCE were found under the 4th millennium canal. Sophisticated irrigation and storage systems were developed by the Indus Valley Civilization in present-day Pakistan and North India, including the reservoirs at Girnar in 3000 BCE and an early canal irrigation system from circa 2600 BCE.〔Rodda, J. C. and Ubertini, Lucio (2004). ''The Basis of Civilization – Water Science?'' pg 161. International Association of Hydrological Sciences (International Association of Hydrological Sciences Press 2004).〕 Large scale agriculture was practiced and an extensive network of canals was used for the purpose of irrigation. Ancient Persia (modern day Iran) as far back as the 6th millennium BCE, where barley was grown in areas where the natural rainfall was insufficient to support such a crop. The Qanats, developed in ancient Persia in about 800 BCE, are among the oldest known irrigation methods still in use today. They are now found in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The system comprises a network of vertical wells and gently sloping tunnels driven into the sides of cliffs and steep hills to tap groundwater. The noria, a water wheel with clay pots around the rim powered by the flow of the stream (or by animals where the water source was still), was first brought into use at about this time, by Roman settlers in North Africa. By 150 BCE the pots were fitted with valves to allow smoother filling as they were forced into the water.〔''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 1911 and 1989 editions〕 The irrigation works of ancient Sri Lanka, the earliest dating from about 300 BCE, in the reign of King Pandukabhaya and under continuous development for the next thousand years, were one of the most complex irrigation systems of the ancient world. In addition to underground canals, the Sinhalese were the first to build completely artificial reservoirs to store water. Due to their engineering superiority in this sector, they were often called 'masters of irrigation'. Most of these irrigation systems still exist undamaged up to now, in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, because of the advanced and precise engineering. The system was extensively restored and further extended during the reign of King Parakrama Bahu (1153–1186 CE). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Irrigation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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