These systems have low requirements for infrastructure and technical equipment but need high labour inputs. Irrigation using watering cans is to be found for example in peri-urban agriculture around large cities in some African countries.
Besides the common manual watering by bucket, an automated, natural version of this also exist. Using plain polyester ropes combined with a prepared ground mixture can be used to water plants from a vessel filled with water.
The ground mixture would need to be made depending on the plant itself, yet would mostly consist of black potting soil, vermiculite and perlite. This system would (with certain crops) allow saving expenses as it does not consume any electricity and only a little water (unlike sprinklers, and water timers,). However, it may only be used with certain crops (probably mostly larger crops that do not need a humid environment; perhaps e.g. paprika).
In countries where at night, humid air sweeps the countryside, water can be obtained from the humid air by condensation onto cold surfaces.