Jewish Invention Myths: Drip Irrigation
Jewish invention myths come in various forms from the superficially plausible to made up nonsense to straight up misrepresentation. The latter is the case in the claim that jews invented drip irrigation.
As always let’s quote the claim.
‘MNews’ writes that:
‘Simcha Blass – Drip irrigation
The initiator and main figure of nearly all the water development projects in Israel, Simcha Blass, invented drip irrigation.’ (1)
Boulder Jews News agrees with ‘MNews’ on this. (2)
What is the reality?
Drip irrigation has been known of since at least the first century B.C. in China, (3) but in modern terms its origins lie in Germany in the 1860s.
To quote Megh Goyal:
‘Drip irrigation was used in ancient times by filling buried clay pots with water and allowing the water to gradually seep into the soil. Modern drip irrigation began its development in Germany in 1860 when researchers began experimenting with subsurface irrigation using clay pipe to create combination irrigation and drainage systems. In 1913, E.B. House at Colorado State University succeeded in applying water to the root zone of plants without raising the water table. Perforated pipe was introduced in Germany in the 1920s. In 1934, O.E. Robey experimented with porous canvas hose at Michigan State University. With the advent of modern plastics during and after World War II, major improvements in drip irrigation became possible. Plastic micro-tubing and various emitters began to be used in the greenhouses of Europe and the United States.’ (4)
So thus, it is clear that Simcha Blass didn’t invent drip irrigation at all, but what Simcha Blass and his son Yeshayahu did invent in 1959 was an improved form of drip irrigation which took advantage of friction and required less maintenance than previous versions. (5)
So, no: Simcha Blass did not invent drip irrigation the Chinese and the Germans did!
References
(1) https://mnews.world/en/news/the-great-jews-and-their-inventions
(2) https://boulderjewishnews.org/2009/an-informal-list-of-jewish-inventions-innovations-and-radical-ideas/
(3) David Bainbridge, 2001, ‘Buried clay pot irrigation: a little known but very efficient traditional method of irrigation’, Agricultural Water Management, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 79-88
(4) Megh Goyal, 2013, ‘Management of Drip/Trickle or Micro Irrigation’, 1st Edition, Apple Academic Press: Toronto, p. 104
(5) Ibid.