The 2007 census of agriculture included a question on the use of irrigation in the
calendar year preceding the census and the methods used. The instruction manual
for interviewers defined irrigation as “purposely providing land with water, other
than rain, for improving pastures or crop production”. The instructions further
explained that “irrigation usually implies the existence of infrastructure and equipment
for applying water to crops, such as irrigation canals, pumps, sprinklers or localized
watering systems. However it also includes manual watering of plants
using buckets, watering cans or other devices.” Uncontrolled
land flooding by overflowing of rivers or streams was not to be considered irrigation.
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