What does irrigation mean?
Word: Irrigation
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Irrigation means supplying water to fields through canals, pipes or channels so that crops can grow.
How do you spell irrigation?
Syllables: ir - ri - ga - tion
Tricky part: The word starts with a double r, which students often write as one, and the vowel after it is i, not e.
Watch out for: irigation, irrigasion, irregation
Memory tip: Picture two channels of water running into a field, one for each r.
Irrigation in a sentence
Example 1: Farmers in Punjab use canal water for irrigation of their wheat fields.
Example 2: Drip irrigation sends water straight to the roots of each plant.
Example 3: Our school garden has a thin irrigation pipe running along the vegetable beds.
Fun Fact
The Grand Anicut, or Kallanai, on the Kaveri river in Tamil Nadu was built by the Chola king Karikalan nearly 2,000 years ago and is still used for irrigation today.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) cultivasion
b) harvestting
c) irrigation
d) fertilizar
Show answer
c) irrigation. Irrigation alone has every letter in place, double r and all.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
irrigattion
a) i
b) t
c) g
d) r
Show answer
b) t. Every -tion ending has one t.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
gitrionair
a) irritation
b) migration
c) irrigation
d) navigation
Show answer
c) irrigation. Irritation swaps the g for a second t, while migration and navigation would need an m or a v.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
irrigation
a) drought
b) harvest
c) drainage
d) watering
Show answer
d) watering. Irrigation is simply the planned watering of land.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A farmer needs irrigation most when ____.
a) the crop has been harvested
b) the monsoon rains fail
c) the soil is already soaked
d) the river floods the fields
Show answer
b) the monsoon rains fail
2. Drip irrigation is popular in dry areas such as parts of Australia mainly because it ____.
a) wastes very little water
b) keeps the soil much warmer
c) needs no pipes at all
d) keeps birds away from crops
Show answer
a) wastes very little water
