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Introduction
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Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the 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 weeds growing in grain fields and helping in preventing soil consolidation.
In contrast, agriculture that relies only on direct rainfall is called rain-fed or dryland farming. Irrigation systems are also used for dust suppression, sewage disposal, and mining. Irrigation is often studied together with drainage, the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from a given area.