and closer settlement Large scale irrigation commenced with the establishment of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) in 1912 which diverted water from the Murrumbidgee River near Narrandera. The River Murray Waters Agreement of 1915 allowed 26 weirs to be constructed with locks to provide permanent riverboat access to Echuca. When riverboat transport was no longer significant, the weirs supported irrigation. Irrigation in the region continued to develop with the construction of the Hume Dam between 1919 and 1931, the Burrinjuck Dam built in 1928 and Blowering Dam built in 1968. Development and promotion of the MIA led to large scale settlement on land described by Oxley 100 years earlier as "country which, for barrenness and desolation, can I think, have no equal." Settlers came from a diverse range of backgrounds and nationalities. In particular, the Italian community prospered in the Area, owning nearly half of all the farms around Griffith by 1954. Later, further irrigation was developed for areas in the Murray valley starting with the Wakool Irrigation District in 1932, then the Deniboota and Denimein Irrigation Districts in 1938, the Berriquin Irrigation District in 1939 and the Tullakool Irrigation Area in 1942. The Coleambally Irrigation Area, established in 1968, was the last of the major government-sponsored irrigation developments in New South Wales. Agriculture The high soil fertility and abundance of water in the Riverina floodplain has made the Riverina region one of the most productive farming regions in Australia with rice, wheat, maize, canola, citrus and wine grapes being grown in the area. The Riverina contains many irrigation schemes including the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. are under irrigation in the region. For the first few decades following the 1830s, European pastoral activity focused in the main on cattle production but by the 1860s sheep were the predominant stock. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the region's agricultural and horticultural production was worth more than A$1 billion. The region produces: over 25% of the state's fruit and vegetables 90% of NSW citrus products 80% of NSW wine/grape production livestock feedlots, sales and processing facilities nearly 20% of all NSW crop production and two-thirds of its total value. In 1991–92 sheep and lamb numbers in the region were close to 7 million and there were 500,000 meat cattle. The Riverina is also a significant almond growing region. Wool Much of the dryland areas of the Riverina contain large sheep stations, producing