Irrigation is defined as the artificial application of water to the soil through various systems of tubes, pumps, and sprayers. Approximately 20% of the world’s agricultural land is irrigated, yet 40% of the world food supply comes from irrigated lands with 70% of the world’s freshwater reserves being used for irrigation purposes. The main…
Agricultural drainage serves two purposes. The first is for the removal of excess surface and subsurface water. The second is to remove excess soluble salts with the (excess) water from the drained soil profile. There are two options for drainage systems. The first is a surface drainage system. A surface drain removes excess water from…
PRE-19TH CENTURY Eli Whitney (December 1765 – January 1825) In 1794 US born inventor Whitney patented the cotton gin which revolutionized cotton production by dramatically increasing the speed of seed removal from the fiber. This was accomplished by running the cotton through a wooden drum fitted with a number of hooks that caught the fibers and…