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waterOnFarmMDB20140430v1.0.0.docx
Resource Name:
waterOnFarmMDB20140430v1.0.0.docx
File Size:
2.53 MB
Resource Type:
Word 2007 OOXML Documents
Metadata
Title:
Irrigation technology and water use on farms in the Murray-Darling Basin, 2006-07 to 2011-12
Series:
Research reports
Series Issue:
2014.03
Publication Date:
30/04/2014
Description:
Overview As part of water policy reforms in recent years, the Australian Government has provided funds to help irrigators invest in more efficient and productive on-farm irrigation technologies. To monitor changes in irrigation technologies and water use, ABARES has collected and analysed data from irrigation farms in the Murray-Darling Basin since 2006-07. Key Issues * Results of the analysis presented in this report show a move toward more efficient irrigation technologies in some industries (particularly citrus, wine grapes and vegetables). The survey results also show overall reductions in water application rates for many farms in the Murray-Darling Basin and within all commodity types, although these rates vary significantly from year to year. * The proportion of irrigation farms making additions to total capital increased from 31 per cent in 2006-07 to 45 per cent in 2010-11 as farm incomes improved following better seasonal conditions. * The proportion of farms making additions to irrigation capital ranged between 7 per cent and 12 per cent over the survey period partly reflecting initial uptake of funds from government programmes directed at upgrading on-farm irrigation infrastructure. The extent of investment in new irrigation infrastructure differed by industry. * The proportion of horticulture farms using drip/trickle systems increased between 2006-07 and 2011-12, while fewer horticulture farms used flood/furrow or overhead sprinkler systems. In contrast, changes to technologies in other industries (such as rice and cotton) include better water metering and soil moisture monitoring tools rather than changes in water application methods. * Average water application rates have varied over time due to several factors, including seasonal conditions, water availability, traded water prices and changes in the cropping mix. While application rates vary slightly by industry, they have tended to decline over the survey period for the major irrigation systems used in each industry. * The relatively short time series makes it difficult to separate changes in water use associated with adoption of new irrigation technologies from water use changes caused by year-to-year variations in factors such as seasonal conditions, water availability and market prices for water.
Resource URL Description:
0 : Irrigation technology and water use on farms in the Murray-Darling Basin, 2006-07 to 2011-12 - Report - MS Word [1.4 MB]

1 : Irrigation technology and water use on farms in the Murray-Darling Basin, 2006-07 to 2011-12 - Report - PDF [1.4 MB]
Publisher:
ABARES : Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences : Department of Agriculture
Author:
ASHTON Dale Mr

OLIVER Mark Mr
Right Management:
Use constraints: copyright

Other constraints: Licence base:Copyright

Other constraints: Licence type:Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australian Licence (CC By)

Other constraints: Ownership of intellectual property rights: Unless otherwise noted, copyright (and any other intellectual property rights, if any) in this publication is owned by the Commonwealth of Australia (referred to as the Commonwealth). Creative Commons licence: All material in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence, save for content supplied by third parties, logos and the Commonwealth Coat of Arms.

Other constraints: This publication (and any material sourced from it) should be attributed as: Ashton, D & Oliver, M 2014, Irrigation technology and water use on farms in the Murray–Darling Basin: 2006-07 to 2011-12, ABARES Research report 14.3, Canberra, March. CC BY 3.0
Identifier:
ISBN 978-1-74323-179-1

ISSN 1447-8358
Asset Name:
pb_wofmdbd9aasf20140430_11a