All in Soils

Investigations into Oxygation

mgabelle — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:46:46 +0000

Oxygation of fig and pineapple crops was the interest of Central Queensland University student Michael Law, whose project built on investigations into the technique as a means of generating healthier interactions between water, soil and plant physiology.

IDs and People

Program:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Research Type:

PhD Student

Host Organisation:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Researchers:

Mick Law

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Water (General)

Keywords:

Pineapple

figs

oxygation

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Location

Locations:

Central Queensland

Sustainable farming practices in the mid-Loddon sub-catchment

superuser — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:46:45 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

Judy Crocker

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Create healthy soils by balancing soil chemistry, physics and biology
Assist sub-catchment landholders develop efficient, economic agricultural production methods
Assist sub-catchment landholders to be aware of the broader environmental benefits gained from healthy soils in catchments
Develop farming systems and management practices that increase resilience of agriculture in the face of climate variability and climate change
Increase the group’s current knowledge transfer capability through a partnership established with the Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE (BRIT)
Build on established strong partnership links with agencies and educational institutions
Extend knowledge transfer and gain acceptance of new farming methods

Method

A data collation and monitoring program; analysis of conventional and biological soil tests at six selected paddock sites and delivery of community field days.

Delivering workshops on low input farming approaches to soil health management

superuser — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:42:09 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

Greg Paynter

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Build capacity of regional stakeholders and land resource managers to access knowledge to reduce energy use, to increase soil-based carbon sequestration and lessen their impact within their catchment areas.

Method

Twenty soil health workshops will be conducted across south-east Queensland on best management practice and three catchment best-practice soil health management guides will be developed.

Accelerating adoption of integrated soil management practices in irrigated cotton and grain

superuser — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:34:25 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

Guy Roth

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Increase the knowledge of growers and farm advisers
Develop and implement locally relevant integrated soil management strategies that increase the capacity and motivation to adopt good soil management practices
Develop, collate and reshape an extension program that provides a good foundation of soil heath principles and management
Assist growers and advisers to develop and implement on-farm monitoring systems

Method

Collate important knowledge and improve access for growers and farm advisers to existing soil health information; link to other adoption activities including the Cotton BMP system; establish on-farm demonstration sites/case studies; conduct training programmes, provide regional updates and a regional soil symposium and develop new information sheets and tools for topics identified by industry.

Defining and promoting soil health for sustainable production systems

superuser — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:25:18 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

Peter Grace

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Keywords:

Soil

health

sustainable

Production

systems

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Develop a "hands-on" approach to assessing and improving soil health and productivity for non-specialists
Explain soil health concepts
Develop and implement a laboratory-based soil health/quality index based on field and laboratory assessments

Method

Workshops, use of locally adapted qualitative soil health "scorecards" for self-assessment at the field level, use of a quantitative soil health test kit for direct on-farm assessments to measure biological activity, infiltration, bulk density, aggregate stability, slaking, mineralisable nitrogen, pH, EC, earthworms and organic matter, together with nitrous oxide and CO2 lab analysis.

Healthy soils module for more sheep and wool from pastures

superuser — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:21:53 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

Mary Goodacre

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Assist wool and sheep producers to assess their farms in terms of soil health, soil structure, soil fertility and soil biology
Incorporate soil health information into broader best-management practice guidelines for whole farm management

Method

Develop a healthy soils module for inclusion in a best-practice package being developed jointly by Australian Wool Innovation Limited and Meat and Livestock Australia, for delivery to Australian sheep producers.

Project contributors

Meat & Livestock Australia

Managing Landscapes - matching soils, climate and enterprises

superuser — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:55:18 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

Lester McCormick

Peter Orchard

Graham Schwenke

Subjects

Subjects:

Climate (General)

Landscape Management

Soils

Keywords:

enterprises

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Provide a greater understanding of soil health issues and management options in a land-capability framework, not simply an individual paddock basis
Improve skills in establishing and managing tropical perennial grass pastures in northern and central NSW
Assist participating farmers develop and implement a soil health plan that addresses production and environmental concerns
Produce soil health guides incorporating benchmarks and targets for on-going monitoring by participants

Method

Workshop sessions will comprise a mix of theory, demonstrations and practical exercises on land capability, climate variability, soil testing and interpretation, and the interactive development of local best management practices. There will be at least one demonstration site, using research links and on farm research/demonstrations to develop locally-based best management practices.

Ute guide and soil health interpretation courses for vegetable growers

superuser — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:49:50 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

Helena Whitman

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Develop, publish, promote and disseminate a soil identification and interpretation reference guide for vegetable production
Develop a soil interpretation and management course in line with the Australian National Training Authority: Certificate of Amenity
Horticulture RTF03 (Level IV or higher)
Provide for long-term management of material and information.

Method

Publishing and circulating a Ute Guide to be carried around in the ute or tractor, creating a CD/DVD based on the Ute Guide for those growers with limited literacy in English and staging in-field demonstrations in each state under different soil conditions to enable growers to better interpret soil types and remedial actions required to enhance soil health.

Project contributors

NSW Farmers Association
AUSVEG
Arris Pty Ltd

Improving soil health in Western Australian farming systems

superuser — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:50:42 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

Daniel Murphy

Frances Hoyle

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Primary Industries

Keywords:

Soil

health

Western

Australian

Farming

systems

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Develop a statewide soil health monitoring programme
Develop management strategies to overcome production constraints, delivering this information to growers and agri-business
Establish benchmarked sites to identify and highlight the nature and extent of soil biological, chemical and physical constraints
Establish demonstration sites that address issues relevant to best practice for the future production and sustainability of the soil resource
Provide full economic analysis of new management practices promoted
Provide the basis of an ongoing soil health monitoring program
Provide soil health workshops (tailored to regional issues) to grower groups and agri-business

Method

Trial report and demonstration booklet; economic analysis of best practice management options, website, trade press articles and field day walks/presentations, four workshops annually for the duration of the project.

Project contributors

Avon Catchment Council
SCRIPT
Agricultural Research Western Australia
Department of Agriculture and Food, WA
Grower Group Alliance
Local Farmer Group Network
PlanFarm
Nutrient Management Systems

Sustainable soil management workshops for Queensland broadacre cropping industries

superuser — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:40:44 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

David Lawrence

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Develop and deliver sustainable soil management workshops to more than 500 grain, sugar and dryland cotton producers and their advisers in Queensland
Develop and deliver extension publications and activities relating to soil health throughout the Queensland grain, dryland cotton and sugar industries
Develop and validate tools and processes to quantify the soil health status of cropping soils
Facilitate the conduct of on-farm research in Queensland and northern NSW to validate and demonstrate locally relevant best soil management practices
Compile a database to benchmark the current soil health status of Queensland cropping soils

Method

Reference manual; training materials; extension publications; tools for on-farm benchmarking, assessment and monitoring of soil health; reference database (benchmarking); training workshops; reports from on-farm research.

Project contributors

Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries
NSW Department of Primary Industries
Nutrient Management Systems

Location

State & NRM Region:

Queensland

Soil Health - Leaving a Legacy for South Eastern Australia

superuser — Tue, 26 May 2009 04:40:39 +0000

IDs and People

Program:

Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms

Research Type:

Research Project

Researchers:

Michael Crawford

Colin Smith

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Aims:

Improve farmers' capacity to manage soil health issues
Identify appropriate soil management strategies, both at a landscape and industry level
Enhance, develop and deliver data and information packages for farmers
Develop and promote industry based training packages

Method

The project uses 21 paired demonstration sites and involves 820 farmers trained through farmer workshops. Another 70 private sector advisers and 30 public sector advisers are also being trained through adviser workshops.
Soil Health - Leaving a Legacy for South Eastern Australia.

Project contributors

Victorian Department of Primary Industries
Birchip Cropping Group
Mallee Sustainable Farming Inc.
Southern Farming Systems Ltd
Rural Solutions SA
Nutrient Management Systems

Dr Pauline Mele

superuser — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:02:31 +0000

A New Charter for Exploring Australia’s ‘hidden’ Natural Resource, the Soil Biota

The most diverse ecosystem on the planet, the soil biological ecosystem, is also the least well understood.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Senior Research Fellowships

Research Type:

Senior Research Fellow

Researchers:

Dr Pauline Mele

Subjects

Subjects:

Soils

Keywords:

ecology

Soil biology

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Farming without farming

superuser — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:06:49 +0000

Christine, Darryl, Colin, Bruce and Greg, want to redefine our attitude to land management, to think about Australian farming in new ways.

IDs and People

Program:

Innovation

Program Theme:

Community Fellows

Research Type:

Community Fellow

Researchers:

Christine Jones

Darryl Cluff

Colin Seis

Bruce Maynard

Greg Martin

Subjects

Subjects:

Biodiversity

Soils

Livestock (Mixed)

Keywords:

2001 2002 Community Fellow

Project Information

Summary:

Each has a story to tell: about soil regeneration, or increasing biodiversity or increasing profitability. They believe in a new era, not simply planting and waiting for the results, but managing land for a range of living things.

They are a diverse group. Darryl, Colin and Bruce run mixed farms, Greg works for the company Earth Sanctuaries, and Christine Jones specialises in native grass and grasslands. They are pooling their talents to record past experiences in a manual and offer a challenge to future land managers.

Christine Jones’ chapter Recognise, Relate, Innovate is available by clicking on the link.

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Knowledge & tools to manage fertigation technologies in highly productive citrus orchards for minimal environmental footprint

superuser — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:02:20 +0000

High frequency fertigation is being adopted by Australian citrus producers as an alternative to traditional approaches to supplying water and mineral nutrients to trees. Information, guidelines and practical tools to assess performance are insufficient to support the economic & sustainable use of these technologies for citrus production on Australian soils.

IDs and People

Program:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Research Type:

Research Project

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

DAN5027

Host Organisation:

NSW DPI/SARDI

Researchers:

Michael Treeby

Subjects

Subjects:

Data and Information

Landscape Management

Soils

Irrigation

Keywords:

Citrus

fertigation

nitrate

leaching

management tools

rootstocks

uptake

soil solution

Project Information

Outcomes:

Adoption of practices associated with:

more efficient use of water
more efficient use of mineral fertilisers
reduced on- and off-site impacts of the use of modern irrigation/fertigation technologies
improved awareness and raised understanding of issues underpinning appropriate use of irrigation/fertigation technologies in other high value horticultural crops

Current Activities

Status:

Active

Background

Project Background:

It is generally accepted that drip irrigation is the most efficient irrigation system, and the adoption of drip irrigation systems is generally accompanied by the adoption of technologies that allow nutrient application as frequently as water application. Sometimes these technologies are adopted along with a confidential service agreement, in which case management regimes (i.e. fertiliser recipes) are prescribed. More often, these technologies are being adopted without support, and nutrient supply regimes are based on experience and hearsay, and nutrient inputs often reflect the inefficiencies inherent in delivery technologies used in the past.

Either way, wider knowledge and higher skill levels are needed, and a lack of such skills and that knowledge are an impediment to adoption and to the most efficient use and management of drip irrigation/fertigation technologies by growers. Research and extension organisations have very little or no experience with the newer technologies, and are unable to properly service the skills and information needs of growers. Thus, there is a strong need to demonstrate to industry the integration of modern efficient drip irrigation management with current “best bet” nutrient supply based on advanced understanding of citrus nutrient needs. There is also a strong need to widen the knowledge and skills base of growers and increase the availability of decision support tools. This will enable better decisions to be made in relation to irrigation and nutrient supply to reduce the potential environmental foot print associated with the mismanagement water and nutrient supply.

Aims:

Develop guidelines, practical grower-friendly tools and information packages and provide training for irrigators and support industry for the sustainable and economical use of the new fertigation technologies in citrus production by:

quantifying nutrient capture by roots of commercially relevant citrus rootstock genotypes in relation to supply
establishing commercial-scale demonstration sites of commercially relevant citrus scion varieties growing on commercially relevant rootstock genotypes by re-developing existing plantings to enable short- and long-term responses to nutrient supply to be quantified
developing framework to quantify water and nutrient escape below the rootzone of citrus trees growing in lysimeters
identifying the phenological stages when leaching is most likely to occur
evaluating and demonstrating to industry the efficacy of nutrient capture under different short- and long-term supply regimes using demonstration sites
studying the effect of commonly practiced high intensity fertigation regimes on salt, water and nutrient movement within and below the root zone of the commercially relevant citrus enterprises
calibrating a 2D/3D solute transport model under lysimeters and validate under field conditions for predicting nutrient and water flux beyond the root zone

Impact of Minimal Vineyard Irrigation Strategies on Soil and Plant Sustainability

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:06:59 +0000

The techniques developed by Clarke (2003) will be used to quantify and then model (eg using LEACHM & VineLOGIC) the long-term impact of irrigation with moderately saline irrigation water using a range of drip application techniques in combination with different surface soil management approaches on soil chemical & physical properties, plant physiological performance and wine grape quality through wine and analytical assessment.

IDs and People

Program:

National Program for Sustainable Irrigation

Legacy (KMS) Project ID:

USQ9

Host Organisation:

University of Southern Queensland on behalf of the CRCIF

Researchers:

Andrew Sanderson

Rick Darroch

Matthew Durack

Subjects

Subjects:

Salinity

Soils

Primary Industries

Irrigation

Keywords:

Land Management

rainfall

Wine

Project Information

Outcomes:

Practical vineyard management options that:

maximise vineyard water use efficiency
minimise long-term vine rootzone salinisation under precision irrigation application techniques.
enable wine grape growers to confidently grow grapes to winery specification using environmentally sustainable production systems

Current Activities

Status:

Complete

Background

Project Background:

Environmental pressures such as salinity and prolonged drought condition in the Murray Darling Basin have created a widespread recognition that irrigated water consumption has to be reduced to an environmentally sustainable level. Recently developed irrigation techniques such as drip irrigation and RDI have achieved widespread adoption and there are now about 100,000 ha of drip /micro systems irrigated vineyard in Australia. The winegrape industry is aiming to further improve WUE through other management techniques such as the use of surface mulch, Partial Rootzone Drying, subsurface drip irrigation and sophisticated soil water monitoring technologies.

There is some evidence that reducing the irrigation volume through precision irrigation techniques may have long-term negative impacts. In low rainfall areas where winter leaching is not sufficient, reduced irrigation could result in excessive salt accumulation in the root zone and also impact on soil properties, eventually compromising vineyard health and economic sustainability. A number of alternatives to the traditional drip irrigation approach of a lateral line suspended on a wire about 30 cm above the soil surface have been proposed in an effort to reduce soil structural decline and rootzone salinisation. Subsurface drip irrigation may provide potential benefits in situations where moderately saline water is used for vineyard irrigation such as in the lower reaches of the Murray Darling Basin.

Aims:

Quantify the soil salinity profile under a range of irrigation application & soil management practises in a wine grape vineyard in the lower reaches of the River Murray at Langhorne Creek SA.
Assess the effectiveness of winter rainfall in leaching accumulated salts from vine rootzones irrigated with differing irrigation application systems.
Determine the effects of these management practices on crop water use, vine performance and winegrape quality.
Develop simple predictive models to test and identify a range of management scenarios that will minimise vine rootzone salinisation without significantly increasing vineyard irrigation requirement.