The Agronomy Jigsaw - Finding the pieces that maximise water use efficiency.
Current Projects
Past Projects
Grain Trials
Project Outcome
If we consider that a paddock has relatively uniform rainfall, then the variation in yield represents significant variation water use efficiency (WUE). But what are the determining factors that are affecting paddocks WUE?, how can we better manage them? Is it economically feasible?
With these questions at hand Ben Curtis from Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA) developed the Agronomy Jigsaw project - "finding the pieces that maximize water use efficiency".
Project Summary
Funded by GRDC the project is guided by the spatial variation insights provided by local precision farming consultants Precision Agriculture Australia (PAA) the project is harnessing soil and agronomic knowledge of DAFWA staff such as David Hall, Jeremy Lemon and Paul Galloway to learn more about spatial variation of WUE on the south coast of WA.
SEPWA's Project Officer, Nigel Metz is employed under the project and will be working closely with DAFWA and PAA. The project is also working with the grower groups in the Stirling's, Jerramungup (FBG), Ravensthorpe (RAIN) and Esperance (SEPWA) areas.
The project commenced in July 2009 and has in its initial stages identified areas in which potential gains can be made in WUE. The project is now working towards understanding constraining factors and will feature a number of demonstrations across the south coast which will help growers understand their spatial variation in WUE. The project will also investigate the relative economics of ameliorating WUE constraints and help growers better management them on site specific nature into the future.
The project is set to run for 3 years concluding in June 2012.
Project Funders
This project is funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) with support from the Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA).
Project Background
The project will assist grain growers to maximise the benefit of their inputs which will improve the efficiency of production and reduce potential waste of inputs and increase water use efficiency.
This project is about producing the most amount of grain for the rainfall received, at the least cost. The cost price squeeze is continual problem for farmers and new tools such as variable rate technology and precision agriculture (PA) can help improve yields and reduce costs.
Precision agriculture is now identifying different zones in paddocks and specialised agronomy needs need to be targeted at these areas to help improve crop performance. There is a need to move with the technologies that are coming on stream and start targeting research into zones so the new variable rate applications can be utilised efficiently.
Further Information
Contact SEPWA Project Coordinator, Nigel Metz on 9083 1115 or .
Other personnel involved in the project include DAFWA Research Officer, David Hall; Paul Galloway, Soil Scientist; Kelly Kong, Geographic Information Systems Officer; Jeremy Lemon, Senior Development Officer; Harvey Jones, Economist and Quentin Knight, an agronomist with Precision Agriculture Australia.