Growers participating in the Burdekin Irrigation project, the Lower Burdekin Smart Irrigation Project and the Major Grants project hosted sugarcane growers from the Mackay-Whitsunday region the Far North and local growers to demonstrate on-farm smart irrigation strategies, tools, technologies, and practices throughout the Burdekin.
The bus tour aimed to increase cross regional relationships and provided an opportunity for growers interested in new advancements in irrigation practices and technology from outside the region to explore on-farm smart irrigation demonstrations.
The three demonstration sites contained a variety of smart irrigation technologies including gravity fed surface drip, high press subsurface drip, automated overhead sprinkles, automated furrow irrigation systems and a myriad of sensing equipment to collect data from each trial site.
Improved irrigation practices supported by the Burdekin Irrigation Project have resulted in an increase in productivity, providing a path to a more sustainable farming enterprise.
Three Burdekin growers who hosted the demonstration sites highlighted the challenges associated with farming in their specific locations and shared the robust process they undertook to address crop demands.
They noted that automation has been the enabler for improved efficiency, but without the practice change there would have been little benefit.
“The bus tour provided an excellent opportunity for growers across districts to see first-hand demonstrations of different irrigation practices side by side with replicated treatments,” explained Terry Granshaw, SRA.
“Whether its sugarcane or any of our legumes that are grown across the district, we want to be making sure we apply the right amount of water to the crop at the right time.
“The demonstration sites compare grower current practices with a changed practice, based off data collected from sensors and current weather conditions.
This information is collected via automation and used in conjunction with IrrigWeb (a crop model used for scheduling and record keeping) Feedback from the growers who attended on the day were very positive and I hope that future cross region interaction becomes the normal within our industry,” he said.
With support from Reef Catchments and Sugar Research Australia, growers from the Mackay-Whitsunday region will join their peers to workshop how learnings from the Burdekin tour can best be integrated with local grounded experience in the region.
To learn more about Water Quality management in the Burdekin region, visit NQ Dry Tropics’ website at www.nqdrytropics.com.au.
The integrated Engagement and Capacity Building project is funded through the Queensland Governments Reef Water Quality Program and delivered by the Department of Agriculture and Fishers (DAF).
The Burdekin Irrigation Project is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation with collaboration between Sugar Research Australia, Farmacist, AgriTech Solutions, Burdekin Productivity Services, Burdekin Bowen Integrated Floodplain Management Advisory Committee, James Cook University, the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and NQ Dry Tropics.
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