Aside from the flowers themselves, irrigation is probably the most important part of any kind of garden or growing project. Rain is nature’s form of irrigation and its importance to farmers cannot be overstated. When this natural irrigation system slows down or worse still grinds to a complete stop then the world gets worried because while no farm would rely completely on rain to take care of the irrigation needs, by the same token no farmer in the Karoo would have enough water in his/her dams that they could live without natures irrigation.
It is because of this need for regular irrigation that farmers have come up with all manner of new ways of getting water out if the ground and using it for irrigation purposes. A good irrigation system is as vital to the success of the farm as the farmer himself because just like the farm will never survive without a good farmer making sure that every single facet is running like a Swiss clock, a farm that is not receiving good irrigation does not stand a chance.
To understand just how important irrigation is to plants and farmers, try imagining if you had not to give your body water for 2 days. It would hurt like mad. Water is vital to all forms of life and just because the mielies are growing in what looks like a desert does not mean that irrigation is an optional extra.
One only has to look at Joburg in the summer to realize how important irrigation is. Joburg is a city that gets summer rain and lots of it too, and yet if a person were to skip two days of watering the grass, they could expect to come home to a mini desert on day 3. The sun in South Africa is brutal and makes the land thirsty, so thirsty in fact that even regular rain is not enough to ensure the growth of not just your grass but all the crops in the field which is why farmers will pay for irrigation before they for a new car or tractor, or heaven forbid a new hat