 According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), irrigation development in the Dominican Republic started in the late 19th century, with the construction of the Juan Caballero, Luis Bogart and Santana canals and the Manzanillo Project.In the 1920s, due mostly to government investment, irrigation development increased substantially.The area under irrigation continued increasing in the 1940s and 1950s, from 32,000ha in 1941 to 132,000 in 1954.