Irrigation efficiency benchmarks develop

Production per unit of water, whether bales of cotton or tonnes of grain, may become a useful assessment of irrigation efficiency for individuals as well as whole industries.

The Project

Indicators of efficiency are being developed in the collaborative project Water Smart Cotton and Grains, which is funded by the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation, the Cotton R&D Corporation and the Grains R&D Corporation.

While measures of water use efficiency include plant needs and uptake compared with total water applied and the amount of leaching past the root zone, production per megalitre (ML) of water applied can be an easy reference and general indicator of performance.

Moree-based Janelle Montgomery, a water use efficiency officer with Industry and Investment NSW (I&I NSW), is heading the project. She says that in addition to helping improve performance on a property basis, the project is looking towards industry benchmarks for the future and evaluating broad scale water use in irrigated cotton and grain farming systems.

Watertrack Rapid benchmarking tool

Use of the on-line benchmarking tool Watertrack Rapid enables calculation of a range of standard performance indicators for crop water use and farm water losses.

Private consultants were trained in use of Watertrack Rapid with the aim of helping collect industry data in collaboration with I&I NSW irrigation officers. The result has been compilation of water use information from 46 cotton growers and 24 wheat irrigators from Southern NSW to Central Queensland. Without naming who provided what information, the data has been collated for irrigators to compare their performance with industry and regional averages.

Comparisons of their yield, total water used, irrigation water applied and total farm water losses can be made.

Survey data shows a wide range of productivity and water volumes, with the average Gross Production Water Use Index (GPWUI) for cotton being 1.14 bales per ML. This figure is a representative benchmark for the cotton industry for 2008/2009 and confirmed a reported 40% improvement since the last industry estimate 10 years ago. It was the first such exercise for irrigated wheat, which on 2008 figures from the survey put the average GPWUI for 2008 at 0.85 tonnes/ML.

Benchmarks can be used for future comparisons to show how and at what rate improvements are made to water use. Another outcome will be skills development, assisted by training workshops for irrigation consultants and producers conducted by I&I irrigation officers through the north and west of NSW.

Growers have been interested in results not only for benchmarking but also as a guide to improving resource management by identifying weaknesses in their irrigation systems.

“They have asked for the 2006/2007 survey results to compare industry and regional averages with their own farms and look forward to seeing the collated 2008/2009 results,” Janelle Montgomery said.

“Others are interested because the data has allowed them to quantify any on farm water losses.

“One irrigator was assessing his limited water situation for the season. He used his Watertrack Rapid result to examine crop water use, total water applied and on farm losses to help formulate his water budget and irrigation schedules.”

WATERpak Manual for Irrigated Cotton

In the pipeline is an upgrade of WATERpak (Manual of Best Practice Irrigation Management for Irrigated Cotton). Recently it was reviewed by 14 cotton and grains representatives who met to identify gaps and add new information. The upgrade of WATERpak will include both irrigated cotton and grains management information.

More information

Water Smart Cotton and Grains project 
Contact Janelle Montgomery, water use efficiency officer, Moree, 0428 640 990.

Caption: When under-performance is indicated by benchmarking, irrigators can explore the causes and set measurable goals for improvement.Picture by Jenelle Hare.

Citation

Land & Water Australia. 2010. Irrigation efficiency benchmarks develop. [Online] (Updated June 7th, 2010)
Available at: http://lwa.gov.au/node/3758 [Accessed Thursday 14th of March 2013 12:24:34 AM ].