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Irrigation

Oxygation study aims to lift productivity

>Making modern irrigation systems even more productive is one of the aims of a scholarship funded by the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation.

Irrigation Essentials Launch

Helping irrigators boost productivity

 Efficient and productive irrigation is crucial for Australia.

This was emphasised today by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke when visiting the Keytah property at Moree, NSW, where he inspected farmer-led irrigation demonstration sites and launched Irrigation Essentials, a publication summarising irrigation research as well as challenges and opportunities.

Rob Houghton in a dryland barley crop

Rainfed crops hold the ground as irrigation dries up

by Kellie Penfold, GRDC

For farmers in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA), a plentiful water supply has for decades guaranteed harvests and allowed them to grow high-value rice crops.

But in recent years water allocations have dried up, mirroring the climate.

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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.

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Modernisation

Enhancing water supply systems

The redesign, refurbishment and automation of irrigation systems and their management is being driven by the need to: improve the water use efficiency of irrigation supply systems by reducing losses, so making more water available for additional irrigation or other uses, including the environment; improve the operational efficiency of irrigation supply systems through the rationalisation and automation of distribution, drainage and storage (more)...

Peter Draper and Janelle McGufficke

Less irrigation raises question of environmental effects

Environmental assessment normally is associated with expansion but, as irrigators in the Riverina have found, the effects of less water are also of interest.

Funding was made available through the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation last year as part of a three year research program to quantify the effects of changing irrigation strategies on biodiversity in the region.

Brian Dunn in a rice field

Rice may flourish using less water

There are encouraging signs from a new study at the Yanco Agricultural Institute that delaying flooding could be a successful strategy for saving water without loss of rice production.

The investigation was prompted by an industry hit hard by the water shortage and anxious to find ways of producing with less.

Drip irrigation pipe

Drip irrigation has little effect on structure

Environmental and management benefits from drip irrigation outweigh effects on soil condition and the method could be made even more efficient by addressing the naturally poor structure of Australian soil which is made worse by compaction under tractor wheels.

A new generation of irrigation researchers is encouraged

How use of wastewater in irrigation will affect salt distribution in soils is among research interests of undergraduate students supported by National Program for Sustainable Irrigation this summer.

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Irrigation Essentials

Research and innovation for Australian irrigators

The NPSI Knowledge Harvest brings together information from across the National Program for Sustainable Irrigation (NPSI) projects, highlighting key findings and promoting wider understanding. This document is a key part of the On-farm Irrigation Essentials theme. It summarises the fundamental principles underlying efficient and profitable irrigation, gives examples of leading-edge technologies and directs readers to sources of more (more)...