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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Area Needs <br /> <br />Although the average water use of approximately one foot per acro <br />irrigatcd indicates un efficient use of wator, much of the irrigation is of <br />recont devolopment and many farmers are lacking in irrigation experience, <br />consequently, it is b~lieved that a still more efficient use of watcr is <br />possible. To that end there is need for: <br /> <br />1. An acoelorated research program lending to the development <br />of more officicnt water use practj.col!l including tho proper time a.nd nm.ount <br />of water applications. <br /> <br />2.. <br />of ;lell equipment <br />individual well. <br /> <br />Improved methods of ;1011 development and the installation <br />designed for the particular set of conditiens at the <br /> <br />3. <br /> <br />Centrol and conservation of precipitation. <br /> <br />4. Development and use of methods of improving and maintaining <br />soil tilth and fertility. <br /> <br />5. Developmont of mar]{et outlets for crops that lend them- <br />selves to intensive operations. <br /> <br />6. An educational progrnm. to encourage the use of improved <br />practices once thoy are moro defir~tely determinod. <br /> <br />7. Finally, legal means ef enforcing ground water conservation <br /> <br />measures. <br /> <br />Aroa Economy <br /> <br />Type of farI1dng.- <br /> <br />Hith some exceptions, this area lias fully de,odoped before irrigQ- <br />tion becume e::ct;ensivo. Crops, crop de:pendencc and f::irr" practices <br />were rather generally estClblished in the 2.0 years or more of <br />farming operations preceding the expansion of irrigation. Essen- <br />tially, irri.gntion was imposed as another farm prClctice supple- <br />menting those already being applied. \]i th minor exceptions, the <br />muj or crop dependence is the same on irrigated o.nd dryland farms. <br /> <br />The eJctensive irrigation farrning of this area results from a combi- <br />nation of conditions rather than from any single condition. Luck <br />of suitublc Uk~rt0t outlets for crops that lend themselveD to <br />intensive operations has tended to perpetu;J.te the type of farming <br />or crop depondence that provv.ilcd before irrigation eJ.,'panded. <br />}lechnnization, the rise and ucccptance of which precedod the <br />expansion of irrigation by a few years, enabled farmers to handle <br />largo units despite the additiol1nl labor und costs involved in <br />irrigation farming. <br /> <br />9 <br />