Irrigation has been applied in the
Western Cape Province as far back
as 1797. The first large irrigation
scheme was however only established near Clanwilliam in 1912 and
up until the 1930's, various schemes
were developed with state aid to
irrigation boards. During the depression of the thirties and forties,
the state developed various large
irrigation schemes for socioeconomic reasons. Since the 1950's,
the emphasis fell on the economic
development of disadvantaged areas in the former homelands and the
state also developed various irrigation schemes in those areas. A large
number of state water schemes
were erected countrywide at the
same time, for the storage and/or
transfer of water between catchment areas, in order to ensure water supplies to irrigators and other
users.
Private irrigation development however, took place parallel to the development of state and irrigation
board schemes. Approximately 50%
of the land currently under irrigation was developed by private en-
terprise.
Up to the1930's, flood irrigation,
with gravitational flow of water,
was primarily applied. Since the
1940's, irrigation under pressure
was started and the use of sprinkler
irrigation was on the increase. The
use of micro systems in the RSA
became established in the 1970's
and the use of self-driven mechanized systems (center pivots) later
during the same d