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In the 19th century, Egypt witnessed modernization efforts,
which was begun by Mohamed Ali and reached its peak in the era
of Khedive
Ismail.
Cotton imposed itself as a prime product and international markets
were open for it, increasing Egypt's revenues. Egypt needed
to modernize its agricultural system to keep up with the new
situation, and also increase its agriculture capabilities.
So from 1899 to 1901, the British
constructed the Aswan barrage aimed at increasing the productivity
of the land to include cultivation of more crops during the
year time.
The first dam was built at 30.5 meters (100 ft) height. It was
later raised in 1912 and finally in 1934 to meet new needs.
Though it was initially successful, the barrage failed to function
efficiently by time and some floods were disastrous enough for
the dam to prevent them. So the Egyptian government decided
to build another construction after the 1952-army
coup, which came with new agriculture schemes. |
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