Why would farmers want to farm near rivers even with the potential of the river

The answer is to increase crop growth.

Explanation:

Farmers construct a man made channel leading water from the river to their crops. When farming near rivers the soil is good enough for planting. Many bugs animals poop their which help grow the plants and they are watered daily. After you plant the crops you are basically done. And the River is a Natural source of water so their are no worries of daily watering because nature is doing it for you. Even tho flooding can happen they have sand bags and walls that they set up to control this.