David Sloane, Agrilink Holdings Pty Ltd, 16 Phillips Street, Thebarton, Australia
Over the last 5 years, sever water shortages in have put significant pressure on Australian cotton producers that have caused massive reductions in cotton plantings. Given that water is the most limiting resource, growers have placed a lot of emphasis on steps to improve water use efficiency so that they can maximise returns from the water available. The use of telemetry enabled capacitance soil moisture probes has been fundamental in allowing growers to improve strategic irrigation management as well as the timing of other farming operations. It has become apparent in these water limited times, that it is possible to both save water and improve yield simply through better irrigation management. Large efficiency gains can be achieved with both furrow and centre pivot irrigation through being more responsive to plant water use rather than taking a prescriptive approach. This paper introduces two case studies examining the gains in water use efficiency that have been achieved and the steps taken realize these results.
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