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National Program for Sustainable Irrigation Publications

NPIRD UPDATE- No.4 May 2002

Newsletter from the National Program for Irrigation Research and Development program.

NPIRD UPDATE- No.5 July 2002

Newsletter from the National Program for Irrigation Research and Development program.

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NPSI - Phase 2 Final Report

The national Program for Sustainable Irrigation was a unique collaboration as it involved governments, irrigators, water providers and researchers from across Australia. It covered every aspect of irrigation from dam management and water delivery, through on-farm management, to sustainable landscape environmental measures. the program has contributed to; major increases in the efficiency and productivity of irrigation water, significant reductions in (more)...

NPSI Strategic Plan Phase 2

2007 - 2010

The new Phase of NPSI will focus its investment on answering questions around: plant performance and how that impacts on various farm irrigation systems; system-level sustainability: and tools for irrigators, water suppliers and policy makers to measure change. Research will be commissioned to provide either new information (smart science) or development; ensuring that the new information can be readily used by practitioners, planners and policy makers.

Open Hydroponics - Risks and Opportunities - Stage 1 Project Findings Overview

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation Fact Sheet

Open Hydroponics (OH) is an innovative horticultural management program with over 2700ha currently being adopted in Australia and presents an opportunity for more sustainable production (economic and environmental). Conventional drip irrigation growers are also adopting selected Open Hydroponic principles, which use similar practices and carry the same possible benefits and environmental risks. OH aims to increase productivity by (more)...

Open Hydroponics: Risks and Opportunities

General Principles and Literature Review

The following report is a brief study and interpretation of the publicly known principles and theories of Open Hydroponics (OH). Scientific validation of the principles of OH, productivity gains from OH and in-field assessment of the practicality of OH was not a part of this study. Published information on OH was reviewed, however very little published information (more)...

Open Hydroponics: Risks and Opportunities

Stage 1 Final Report

Open Hydroponics (OH) is an innovative horticultural management program with over 2700ha currently being adopted in Australia and presents an opportunity for more sustainable production (economic and environmental).
Conventional drip irrigation growers are also adopting selected Open Hydroponic principles, which use similar practices and carry the same possible benefits and environmental risks.

Open Hydroponics: Risks and Opportunities

Stage 1 Workshop Report

The aim of the workshop was to:

  • Update and discuss the results of the project with team members, affiliated contributors and nominated stakeholders
  • Develop recommendations for stage two of the project

Open Hydroponics: Risks and Opportunities

Open Hydroponics Ecological Risk Assessment

The purpose of this component of the research was to develop a method to identify likely ecological risks associated with Open Hydroponics (OH) in the Mallee region, using an ecological risk assessment approach. Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) is the process of defining and assessing the risks to ecological resources of anthropogenic hazards and determining the acceptability of those risks. The hazard(s) can be any chemical, physical or (more)...

Open Hydroponics: Risks and Opportunities

Water Supply Impact Assessment Report

The aim of this assessment was to examine the irrigation supply related issues that relate to existing and more importantly potential enterprises undertaking Open Hydroponic (OH) irrigation within the major irrigation districts of Victoria and New South Wales. While this assessment looked at the irrigation of Citrus in particular, it did not exclude the use of OH on other crops and sought to address the supply issues for all (more)...

Optimising On and Off Farm Water Supply Systems Management

This publication contains the findings and proceedings from the Optimising On and Off Farm Water Supply Systems Management workshop.

Please note: the electronic version of this report has been created by scanning the original publication and as such the quality of images and text may be inferior to the original.

Optimising the delivery and benefits of aerated irrigation water

Aerated Water Video

Aerated Water, Section 2, Optimising the delivery and benefits of aerated irrigation water from Land and Water (more)...

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Oxygation

Final report

Oxygation involves mixing atmospheric air with irrigation water using a venturi and delivering it via a surface or subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system. 

Oxygation as a tool delivers air into the crop root zone. Oxygen limitations can be significant in compacted, saline, and water logged soil, and with high BOD effluent irrigation water.

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Oxygation

Optimising delivery and benefits of aerated irrigation water

Oxygation involves mixing atmospheric air with irrigation water using a venturi and delivering it via a surface or subsurface drip irrigation system.

Increasing competition on supply of fresh water for irrigation by agricultural, domestic, sports and industrial users demands water use efficient irrigation methods and compliance with environmental regulations.

Performance testing of automatic irrigation equipment for surface irrigation

technical report

The AITC, in collaboration with Goulburn-Murray Water, NSW Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Victoria and automatic flood irrigation equipment (AFIE) manufacturers, undertook the project Performance Testing of Automatic Irrigation Equipment for Flood Irrigation. The project was sponsored by the National Program for Irrigation Research and Development (NPIRD). The project objectives (more)...

Perspectives of future irrigation

Final Report 3

This document was developed by the Irrigation Futures project team as a contribution to Goulburn-Murray Water’s irrigation reconfiguration processes. It has been included as a chapter in the Shepparton Regional Atlas as a part of Goulburn-Murray Water’s Strategic View of Assets and Service Needs. This document summarises the scenarios and their implications for irrigation infrastructure planning.

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Planning Tools

Future scenarios and ecological risk assessments

Rising global demand for food offers a positive outlook for irrigators, with potential for higher commodity prices. However, producers face increasingly competitive and volatile markets, compounded by the global fnancial crisis. There are also looming shortages of water, as cities increase their demands, water is reallocated to improve the environment and flows are affected by climate change.

Polyacrylamides in Irrigated Agriculture

Polyacrylamide (PAM) has been sold in the United States since 1995 for reducing irrigation-induced erosion and enhancing infiltration. PAM’s soil stabilizing and flocculating properties have also substantially improved runoff water quality by reducing sediments, N, ortho and total P, COD, pesticides, weed seeds, and microorganisms in runoff. The first series of practical field tests of (more)...

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Precision Irrigation

Final report

This report is the outcome from a NPSI funded review of relevant irrigation research, existing technologies and the use of precision irrigation. It includes an assessment of the role of current irrigation application technologies in precision irrigation, as well as variable rate applications, adaptive control and the sensing and decision support requirements. The review also provides a framework to guide research and development of precision irrigation (more)...