b'SPUD HISTORY|IRRIGATION6,000 BCE 1847 1947 1952 1954Irrigation is created inModern irrigationNebraska farmer FrankFrank Zybach is granted aValley Manufacturing, a small Egypt and Mesopotamiabegins with theZybach invents anpatent on a larger irrigationmanufacturer of farm equipment in by diverting flood waterMormon settlementirrigation system thatsystem with a 600-foot boomOmaha, Neb., acquired the patent from rivers to crop land. at Utah Great Saltfeatured two sections ofthat could water a 135-acrerights from Frank Zybach. Its engineers Lake Basin.pipes on skids, suspendedcircle (all but the corners ofimproved the machines efficiencyby cables from two towers.a standard 160-acre sectionand dependability.of land).ORIGINIrrigation is believed to have been created in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Euphrates and Tigress rivers in Mesopotamia and the Nile in Egypt would flood annually, and with these overflows the farmers living along the rivers would divert and direct it to their crops. In Ancient Rome, they built structures called aqueducts to carry water from snowmelt in the Alps to cities and towns in the valleys below. 18%IS THE ESTIMATED AMOUNT OF THE WORLDSCROPLAND THAT IS NOW IRRIGATED.CANADIAN FARMERSREDUCED THEIR WATER USAGE FORCROP IRRIGATION BY40%IN 2020 COMPARED TO TWO YEARS PRIOR.CANADIAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS USED APPROXIMATELY1.8 BILLION CUBIC METRESOF WATER TO IRRIGATE THEIR CROPS IN 2020.DURING THE1930 s TO50 s, GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED PROGRAMS BUILT DAMS FOR HYDROPOWER, FLOOD CONTROL, IRRIGATION AND SETTLEMENT OF SPARSELY POPULATED AREAS, HAPPENED IN THE UNITED STATES, SOVIET UNION, AUSTRALIA AND AFRICA. A TOTAL OF605,907 HECTARESOF LAND WERE IRRIGATED IN CANADA IN 2020.Sources: National Investors Hall of Fame, Pro Green Irrigation, National Geographic, Encyclopedia of Soil Science, Statistics Canada60SPUDSMART.COMWinter 2024'