The Art of Irrigation

In Northern Portugal smallholders have constructed operated maintained and improved their systems over the centuries. These systems are characterized by labor-intensive practices and are an outstanding example of skill-oriented technology. The context in which they operate has changed dramatically in the last decades as a consequence of migration and public interventions aimed at modernizing agriculture. This book describes and analyses these systems in their context and the processes which affects their functioning. Finally the book provides a repertoire of redesign built on the internal logic of the use of these systems adapting them to the changing context which is particularly characterized by labor scarcity.